Cosmic Love
by Nadbeta
Summary: Analysse Reid- call sign: Cosma- is a Galaxy Garrison graduate and a talented naval pilot. She didn't expect to be sent on a mission to help the Paladins of Voltron. She also didn't expect her ex-boyfriend, Takashi Shirogane to be alive and be the leader of Voltron. As an excellent pilot and war leader, it's her job to keep everyone in line, and alive.
1. Chapter 1

She stood at attention, with her hands firmly at her sides, looking dead ahead at her captain, Cpt. Andrews.

"How's training today, Cosma?" Andrews asked.

"Well sir," The women answered. "Not a boring moment up there."

The captain stood up and walked over to the young women, "You're a great pilot, Lieutenant Reid," the captain praised. "And if I were allowed to say it, I would say you are the best in the Navy." The women tried to hide her smile. "I'm going to cut to the chase, I have orders from NASA to send my best pilot over to the Garrison and since you already came from there, you are my top choice."

The lieutenant frowned in confusion, "Sir I completed my training for the Garrison and choose to continue down the Military branch, why do they need me?"

"Because Samuel Holt has returned." The lieutenant dropped her stance in stock. "They need the best pilots to go to space. More information will be provided once you get there. You leave Miramar in a week."

...

Analysse Reid, call sign: Cosma, sat down on her favorite spot on the beach, watching the volleyball game her division started playing.

"Cosma, come play!" Another pilot called.

Analysse shook her head, "No, I'll watch for now."

The other pilots snickered, "Too afraid to be beaten by a bunch of men?"

Analysse raised her eye brow and flashed them a teasing smile, "Oh yeah, petrified."

The game started but Analysse wasn't paying attention, she was thinking about her time with the Garrison when she was a teenager.

" _Shiro, let's go train." 15-year-old Analysse sat down next to the famous 17-year-old Takashi Shirogane._

 _Shiro jumped awake from his sleep and stared at the girl, "Ana? W-what are you doing in here."_

" _I broke in your dorm." Analysse scooted closer to Shiro so she can lay down on the bed with him and flashed him a smile. "Your door was unlocked."_

 _Shiro rolled his eyes and laughed, "I really don't want to train right now it's like..." Shiro turned around to look at the clock, "3:00 am! Are you insane?"_

 _Analysse turned her eyes away from Shiro, "Okay, fine, I just can't sleep."_

" _You're nervous for the flight simulator test, aren't you?" Shiro asked in a soft voice._

 _She nodded, "I trained over and over again, and I got perfect scores every time, but I'm afraid I'll mess up in there! What if I crash? What if my team members decide to go against me and disobey every order? What if- "_

 _Shiro reaches over to place a hand on her head, "Whoa, relax Ana." He started to run his fingers through her blonde hair. "You are an amazing pilot, one of the best I've seen. You'll be fine, but you got to believe that you'll be fine."_

 _Analysse relaxed under Shiro's touch, "Yeah I guess so..."_

" _Staying up all night isn't going to do you any good."_

" _Can I stay here?"_

 _Shiro smiled and allowed her to rest her head on his chest. "Of course." He smiled, wrapping his arms around her, kissing the top of her head._

" _I love you."_

" _I love you too."_

" _Doesn't that mean that Shiro may be alive?"_ Analysse thought.

Analysse was interrupted by her thoughts because of a volleyball smacking her right in the face.

"Whoa! Sorry about that Cosma!" One pilot apologized as the others stared in horror.

Analysse grabbed the volleyball and threw it at the pilot, hitting him square in the chest. "Oh, you boys are on now!"

After a few hours of volleyball, Analysse called the game to an end. "That's why you don't challenge me." She shouted at the losing team and high fives her team.

"Cosma, you're the man!" One pilot teased and slapped her back.

"You get a pass, Gopher." Analysse glared and then looked out at the sunset. "Alright boys let's head back to base, we got to do Colors." A collective of whimpers and moans could be heard.

…

Saying goodbye to her division was one of the hardest things she has ever done. She loved the Navy, and she really worked her way up the ranks and become a respected pilot. She's going to miss her boys, but she knew she had more important work to do.

Commander Samuel Holt is back. He and his crew had been presumed dead a little over a year ago. Apparently, he has news about the Kerberos mission and the missing cadets from the Garrison. Everything was classified information; the captain didn't even know everything.

Analysse had some time to think as she flew out of California to Arizona. She wasn't sure how to feel about the news of only Commander Holt returning. That means Shiro and the young cadets are out there in space somewhere. She should be excited to be going into space, she always wanted to explore the universe. But when the Navy contacted her to join the military, the vision of going into space vanished.

It wasn't long to reach the Galaxy Garrison base. An alarm went off in her jet, letting her know that she has received a video message from the Garrison.

"Identify yourself." An older woman came on screen.

Analysse noticed that a ship was behind her, missile fire locked on her.

"I am Lieutenant Analysse Reid from Miramar, California. I have been transferred to Galaxy Garrison."

The women on screen typed something on her computer. "Please place your hand on the screen for scanning." Analysse did what she was told. The women smiled as she received the information back. "Thank you, Lieutenant." She saluted, "Have a safe landing."

…

"Welcome, Lieutenant Reid," Commander Iverson nodded at Analysse as she got out of her jet.

Analysse saluted, "It's an honor to be back sir."

Iverson smiled, "It would be nice to have drinks and catch up, but unfortunately we need to discuss what's going down. We need to get you up there by tomorrow."

"Yes sir," Analysse nodded firmly.

"Follow me," Iverson started walking towards the building. "I'll have you meet Commander Holt."

Iverson takes her into the building. Memories of the time she spent in these halls learning about space and flying. All the friends she made. She missed it. He took her into a briefing room that cadets couldn't go into.

In the room three people stood, there was only one Analysse recognized. She stood tall and straight, saluting the higher officers.

"Lieutenant Reid, it's a pleasure to meet you," Commander Holt offered a handshake. Analysse shook it and nodded, "Thank you, sir. I am happy you have returned safely back on Earth, I am sure your wife is happy to see you."

Sam smiled a way that reminds Analysse of her own father, "She is very happy to hear that our son and daughter are also safe, but she's not too happy that they are fighting in a war."

"Your daughter is in space too?" Analysse question, sitting down on the chair. "I was only aware that your son Matthew was."

Sam nodded, "My apologizes, I forgot that all you know is what the media tells you. The government is making this top secret for now." Sam pressed a button on the table and pictures of six people showed up on the 3d screen.

 _Takashi Shirogane- Black Paladin_

 _Keith Kogane- Former Red and Black Paladin. Current member of the Blades of Marmora._

 _Lance McClain- Former Blue Paladin, current Red Paladin_

 _Hunk Garrett- Yellow Paladin_

 _Pidge Gunderson/ Katie Holt- Green Paladin_

 _Matthew Holt- Officer of the rebel forces._

Analysse eyes widened at the second name. "Keith Kogane!" She looked at Sam. "I – I didn't know he went missing too."

Sam shook his head, "I understand that you, Shiro and Keith use to be very close."

Analysse stared at Shiro's picture. He wore his Galaxy Garrison uniform and was smiling at the camera. It must have been an employee photoshoot. He looked so happy. "Yeah, Shiro looked after Keith, since I was dating Shiro at the time, I was always around them. We were like a small family." Analysse chuckled, remembering the good times between the two. She cleared her throat and continued with the meeting. "So, what is my mission, sir?"

"You are to aid the Paladins of Voltron, they are at war with an alien race called the Galra." Sam put up pictures of humanoid creatures that have purple skin, long ears and yellow eyes. "Once you get to them, I'm sure they are going tell you all about them. Sam looks down at his hands, "Not all of them are bad, but they have had horrible emperors." Analysse stares at the imagines, she couldn't believe that she was looking at an alien race. This was all new to her. Sam looks at Analysse and smiles gently, "Lieutenant, I know this must be hard to take in."

Analysse shook her head, "No, it's just… different. I am sure there are hundreds of different alien species."

"Millions," Holt agreed. "You might have the chance to meet them when you are up there."

One other commander that Analysse didn't recognize cleared his throat, "If we may, can we contact the Castle of Lions?"

Holt rubbed his head in embarrassment, "Oh, of course." Sam began typing something on the computer screen. "My daughter gave me this code that will make it possible to contact the Castle of Lions, no matter how many light years away we are to them." Analysse watched as Sam continued typing away. He looked up at her and gave her a sympathetic smile. "Are you ready for this?"

She was about to see Shiro, the man she admires the most, alive and well. She nodded, "As ready as I'll ever be."

"Very well." Sam pressed keys on the hologram screen. "There, all we do is wait."

Within a couple seconds, a screen popped up showing a man, with orange hair and a mustache. Analysse, Iverson and the other two commanders gasped at him. He looked human, but he had blue markings under his eyes and had pointy ears. "Why hello Sam, and Earthlings!"

"Eh, hello…sir." Analysse greeted. She looked around the room the man stood in but saw no one, "Where are the Paladins?"

The man played with his mustache, "Right now they are at a local planet, helping with the community and communicating with the public, they should be back in one quintant."

Analysse looked over at Sam in confusion, "Quintant?"

"It's equivalent to a day," Sam answered. "Coran," he addressed the man. "This is Analysse Reid, she is a Lieutenant in our Navy, she is a fighter pilot, and is considered one of the best in our nation." Sam gestured to Analysse, who smiled and waved at Coran, "We are sending her to help the Paladins, as we know, we need all the help we can get in this war."

"That is correct, and I am sure the Paladins will be grateful to have another Earthling on their team!" Coran exclaimed.

Sam nodded, "She is to leave in 30 vargas," he looked over at Analysse, "30 hours."

"Got it."

"Alright, I'll make sure Princess Allura makes a warp hole in 30 vargas!"

"Very well, thank you for your help, my friend!" Sam smiled.

"Take care, Samuel." The screen turned off, and the room fell silent.

Everyone was lost for words, but Sam didn't want to slow things down, "Reid, come with me, you must be ready for battle once you arrive." Analysse followed Sam into the next room. She stared, gapping at all the weapons in front of her. "Go ahead and pick your weapons." All the weapons looked new and just build, some didn't even look like there were made on Earth. "These are donations from the rebel fighters." Analysse moved around the room, but the only weapons that realty caught her eyes where two small guns, sitting next to each other. "Those are laser guns, very powerful and destructive, they look like normal pistols, so it is easier to handle. And the best thing about them, you don't need to reload."

"That's pretty neat, can I test them out?" Analysse asked.

Sam smiled and walked toward the control panel. He clicked a button and targets fell behind Analysse. "Go right ahead."

Analysse smirked and went to work. With both guns, she fired and hit each target in the bullseye. Sam looked impressed. After she was done, she put them down and smiled. "I think I'll take these."

Sam chuckled and gave her a harness for the guns. "You wear this like a belt. The guns will always be easy to get to in quick time." Analysse grabbed it and thanked Sam. "Now, let me show you your new vessel."

…

"This is what I'm going to be flying?!" Analysse looked up at the beautifully designed white and black jet-like spaceship. "It's gorgeous!" She ran her hand over the wing.

"I am glad you like it," Sam laughed. "It's made from the Altean space ship that Princess Allura allowed me to use to go back to Earth. It also has metal from the meteor that Voltron is made of. This space jet is powerful, fast, and can withstand heavy hits. We need only the best to fly her."

Analysse laughed and gave Sam a wide smile, "It's an honor sir, thank you!"

Samuel walked over to the jet, opening it. "And one more thing," He pulled out a folded suit, armor, and a helmet. "Got to wear a suit to protect yourself."

Analysse walked over to look at her new suit, but the helmet is what grabbed her attention. It looked exactly like her naval pilot helmet. "It's an exact replica…" She felt the smooth, cold helmet in her hands. It was dark blue, representing the Navy, but with purple lines. Small white stars covered the helmet and the name, "Cosma," written on the side in pink.

"Cosma, is your codename?" Sam asked with curiosity.

Analysse nodded, "Yeah. It was my first day at training, my superior officer was impressed that I just came from the Garrison. So they started calling me Cosma."

Sam handed Analysse her things and patted her shoulder. "Go ahead and get some rest Analysse, call your family. You have a long day tomorrow."

"Yes sir," Analysse smiled.

…

"You look like a Paladin, wearing that armor," Analysse turned around to see Samuel and Iverson walking towards her. Her armor was dark blue, a yellow symbol that was shaped as a "V" sat on her chest plate.

Analysse turned to look at her jet, "Thank you so much for this opportunity."

Sam nodded, "There are a few boxes I put inside your jet, they are to the Paladins from their families. You can give it to them whenever you can." Sam reached into his pockets and took out a few items that look like recording devices. "These recordings from their families, it is best to give these to them right away, it may help motivate them."

"Sure thing," Analysse took them and put them in her pockets in her suit.

"You ready for launch?" Iverson questioned.

"Born ready," Analysse smirked as she put her helmet on.

"Treat it just like one of your jets," Sam said. "We made it that way, so it would be easier to move around."

"Got it."

Iverson placed his hand on her shoulder, "Good luck kid, be tough on those kids. Lord knows they need the discipline."

She laughed as she opened up her jet, "I'll do some babysitting if I have too. But you should probably give them some credit. They are our legendary defenders of the universe."

Iverson crossed his arms and sighed, "You should contact that Princess."

Sam nodded, "Reid, go ahead and lift off. Once you pass our moon, a blue-like ring will appear, that is the Princess's warp hole. Go through that and it will take you to the Castle of Lions."

Analysse smiled, "Thanks for everything."

"God speed."

She started up her jet, just like how she always did. The controls are the same, but she still felt nervous. "Well, one small step for man…"

The roar of the engine was like music to her ears. She loves flying, it is her passion. With a deep breath, she takes off.

Samuel wasn't joking when he said that this jet was fast! Analysse yelp in excitement as she did flips in the air. Iverson and Holt were probably watching her as she continued to ascend.

"Having fun there, kiddo?" Sam's voice came from the communicator from the jet.

Analysse laughed, "Your engineers did an amazing job."

"I know!" Sam laughed. "Take care young Lieutenant, when you see my Katie, can you tell her that I'm so proud of her?"

"Sure thing."

It didn't take long for Analysse to realize that she was no longer on Earth. Looking back, her eyes widened at the view of Earth. From the outside, it looked small and vulnerable. There is no way she is going to let the Galra take her precious home away from her.

"In a few seconds, the warp hole is going to open," Holt said in her helmet's earpiece. "It's going to be a little bumpy as you enter but I assure you, you will be safe."

Just as Holt said, the blue wrap hole appeared out of nowhere. With her heart beating fast, she entered the wrap hole.

It was bumpy, like as Sam said it would be, but after a few seconds she was out. "Oh my gosh…" Analysse was now in a completely different galaxy. Just ahead of her was a big castle-ship, floating in space.

An alarm blared, letting Analysse know that she was receiving a video call. She clicked the button to answer, and a woman with white long hair, who looked like the same species as Coran, appeared on her screen. "Hello!" She chirped. "Welcome!" Five other people came into frame. Her heart stopped when she saw him.

His eyes widened as he saw her, but he gave a soft smile.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for reading this story! This has been in my head for a long time and I finally decided to write it. I have a few things to say before we get started. This story takes place after season 5, however, it may not follow canon in some areas. Spoilers for seasons 6 and 7.**

 ***Spoilers start here***

 **In this story, Shiro will not be a clone. However, Haggar may have some mind control on him. I haven't thought about Romelle, I love her to death, but I don't know if she will make an appearance. Keith does not have a time skip.**

 **Sadly, Adam will not be in this story, if he does appear, he won't be a huge character. As much as I love Shiro and Adam being together in canon, they will not be in this story. The reason for that will be explained as the story progresses.**

 ***Spoilers end here***

 **In this story, I am going to make the year 2042. I feel like this year fits. I hope we get a canon date soon!**

 **Enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

"Welcome to the Castle of Lions!" Allura greeted Analysse.

Analysse stood in front of everyone, feeling a little overwhelmed. Analysse bowed at the princess, "Thank you, Princess. It's an honor to be here." She looked at the others, but her eyes stayed on Shiro. She took in his arm, the small white in his hair and his long scar on his nose. She didn't want to speak first, she was afraid her voice may fail her.

"Hey." Shiro finally smiled.

"Hi," Analysse responded. The others looked at the two, Shiro told them they had chemistry in the past. Sensing the awkwardness in the air, the two started chuckling, "You look different."

Shiro looked at his arm, "You think so?"

"Hi, I'm Lance!" Lance jumped in front of everyone. "Red Paladin." Lance flashed his charming smiling and held out his hand.

Analysse took Lance's hand and shook it hard, causing him to yelp in pain. "Nice to meet you, Lance!" Lance held his sore arm and slowly backed away from Analysse. He looked back at Shiro who just shook his head in disapproval.

"Hi, I'm Hunk, it's nice to meet you." Hunk waved. "Thank you for serving us, you know, back on Earth."

Analysse smiled, "Oh, don't mention it! Thank you for serving the whole universe."

"Hello I'm Coran," Coran waved.

"I'm Allura," she smiled. "It's a pleasure to meet you and have you on board."

Analysse looked down at the last one, "You must be Katie."

Pidge smiled and moved her glasses up, "Yes, but everyone here calls me Pidge."

Analysse smiled, "Your father told me a lot about you, he is really proud of you."

Pidge smiled, and tears formed in her eyes, "Thank you."

"Oh, that reminds me!" Analysse reached into her jacket pocket to take out the four recording devices Sam gave her. She handed one to Pidge first. "Your parents responded to the messages you sent them." She gave Lance and Hunk theirs as well. She walked over to Shiro and placed his in his hand. "They were really happy to hear from you, they were worried sick about you." She looked up at Shiro and gave him a half smile. "It put their minds at ease, knowing that you are still alive."

Shiro nodded, "Thank you."

...

After the Paladins gave Analysse the grand tour of the castle ship, they all sat down in the lounge and started to get to know each other.

"So," Hunk spoke up. "You two were friends for a long time, right?"

"Yeah," Analysse smiled, glancing at Shiro.

Pidge leaned forward, putting her elbows on her knees and resting her chin in her hands, "How'd you meet?"

"Well..."

…

 _It was a sunny day at the Garrison, a young girl, that was 13-years-old, with short blonde hair and blue eyes was looking for a nice quiet place to sit down for a bit. She spotted a small bench that was close to her next class and walked over to sit down. She took out her clear smartphone and clicked a few buttons. Moments later, an older man popped up on the screen and smiled through the phone._

 _"Hey there, my little space cadet!"_

 _"Hey, dad!"_

 _"How your first day going?"_

 _The girl was about to answer until two voices echoed through the phone. "Is that Sissy?" A young girl voice spoke._

" _I want to talk to Sissy!" A young boy voice came through._

 _The father laughed and two more faces, that where identical, squeezed their way into the screen._

" _Hey Nat, Nate, you two be good to daddy, okay, you all have to take care of each other." The two children giggled and tried to pry the phone out of their father's hand. "I'll video call you two before you go to bed, let me talk to daddy for a while okay?"_

 _The two obeyed and ran off, giggling and yelling in the background. The father shook his head, "It's going to be a little tough without you here, you're a big help."_

 _Tears formed in the girl's eyes, "I miss you guys so much already."_

" _I know baby girl, I miss you too," Her father spoke. "But you choose this, and I am so proud of you." Tears fell from the girl's eyes. "And your mother would be proud too."_

 _The girl smiled and sniffed, "Thank you, dad." A buzzing noise came from her phone, letting her know she had her next class in ten minutes. "I have to go to my next class, I'll call you when I'm completely done for the day."_

" _Okay, but not too late, I have an early shift on the ship tomorrow, I'm teaching some midshipmen new drills."_

 _The girl smiled, "Okay, I love you."_

" _Love you too."_

 _The girl put the phone back into her pocket, she didn't mean to, but a sob escaped her mouth. She quickly covered her mouth and focused on trying to stop the tears._

 _She didn't hear footsteps approaching. "Is everything alright," A boy asked._

 _The girl yelped and looked up at the boy that was standing next to her. He looked to be a little bit older than her, about 15. He had grey eyes, tan skin and had black hair shaved at the sides. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you."_

 _She blushed in embarrassment, "No, it's okay." She cleared her throat, "And I'm okay, thank you for your concern."_

 _The boy held out a tissue, "Here." She took the tissue and smiled at his kindness. "Homesick?"_

 _She nodded, "Yeah, today is actually my first day."_

 _The boy smiled, "Mind if I sit with you?"_

" _Yes, I mean no, no I don't mind," The girl fumbled over her words but scooted over so he can sit down. "You can sit."_

 _He laughed and sat down, "You know, whenever I get homesick, I always look up at the moon." The two look up at the sky to see the faint lit moon. "Every night, when the moon is bright, your family is always looking at the same one. So, in a way, they really aren't that far away."_

 _The girl smiled softly, "You're right."_

 _He held out his hand, "I am Takashi Shirogane, but everyone calls me Shiro."_

 _She took his hand and shook it, "Analysse Reid."_

" _Analysse…" He smiled. "May I call you Ana?"_

" _Of course."_

…

Lance crossed his arms, "You two dated, right? Shiro and Analysse looked away from everyone in sadness. The others glared at Lance and he regretted the question the moment it slipped out of his mouth. "I'm really sorry, that was personal."

Analysse shook her head, "We did, but we broke up when I left for the Navy."

Everyone sat in silence until Allura stood up with a sigh. "We should leave you two to catch up," Allura gestured everyone to walk out of the lounge. Everyone obeyed and left Shiro and Analysse to be alone.

Analysse relaxed more on the couch, "So, tell me everything."

Shiro laughed, "You first."

"Mine can't be as exciting."

Shiro crosses his arms, "I have a lot, I want to hear yours first." Analysse groaned and rolled her eyes playfully. "Besides I want to hear what you did at Top Gun. Did you quote the movie?"

"Actually, you would get in big trouble if you did." Analysse laughed. "Internally? Oh, all the time. I mean it was great. I made a lot of friends, classes were extremely hard but I made enough points to graduate... I am supposed to graduate in a month but..."

"The Garrison requested you for this mission."

"Bingo, I guess I have to kiss that Top Gun trophy goodbye." Analysse slid down on the couch. She turned to look at Shiro, "Your turn." She looked at his arm and scar again. "It must have been wild." She looked into his eyes sadly. She can't imagine what he went through.

Shiro sighed, "So it started when we finally landed on Kerberos..."

...

"Zarkon was defeated and Lotor became our ally." Shiro finished, catching Analysse up on everything.

"Wow, that's some crazy stuff!" Analysse exclaimed. "That Haggar witch..." Analysse glanced at Shiro. "She's gonna pay."

Shiro chuckled, "Well, get in line, we all want to take her down."

"With me around, we are going to make it happen!" Analysse smirked.

After a few minutes of more talking, Analysse yawned and rubbed her eyes.

"Tired?" Shiro asked her while he watched her yawn for the fifth time.

She looked at him sheepishly, "Yes, sorry. I want to sit here and talk to you more but..." She yawned again. "I don't want to fall asleep on you in the middle of a story."

Shiro laughed, "No problem. I'll walk you over to your room."

Shiro walked Analysse over to the resident hallway. "My room is two doors down from you, if you need me, I will be there."

"Okay," She smiled.

"Goodnight, Ana."

"Goodnight, Shiro." Analysse leaned in and put her arms around his torso, giving him a tight hug. "I'm so happy you are alive, Shiro. I-I was a complete mess when I got the news."

Shiro hugged her back, "I made it Ana. I'm happy to have you by me again."

Analysse smiled as she pulled away, "I'll see you tomorrow."

He smiled back, "See you tomorrow."

...

Analysse woke up and had no idea what time it was so she decided to walk around the castle. Everything was quiet, so that means everyone must be asleep. "Guess I'm working out for now..." Analysse mumbled to herself.

After walking around the castle for ten minutes, she finally found the training room. As she walked in, she wasn't expecting to find someone there.

"Hey, Shiro."

Shiro turned around and looked at Analysse in shock, "Hey Analysse, you're up early."

"What time is it?" Analysse asked out of curiosity.

Shiro looked at the hologram clock that was built in his suit. "It's almost 6 am."

Analysse laughed, "Early?" She glanced at Shiro, "In the Navy that's late. You know how many 4ams I had to do on the ship?"

Shiro scrunched up his face, "I'm going to guess a lot."

"Yep." Analysse put her hands on her hips. "So, you are here to work out?"

"Yeah." Shiro nodded. "It is the training room after all."

Analysse smirked, "Want to do our 'usual' together? Just like old times?"

Shiro laughed, "Okay, that sounds like a good plan."

"Okay!" She clapped and rubbed her hands together. "100 push-ups in 15 minutes?"

Shiro gave her a look, "200 in 10."

"Bring it on, Shirogane!" Analysse dropped to the ground.

Shiro followed suit, "Starting timer... go!"

...

"200!" Shiro jumped up. "And at 9:54 minutes!"

Analysse groaned and flopped to the floor, "Dang it, I was at 197!"

"Aw, so close!" Shiro helped her up.

Analysse rolled her sore arms, "Want to do 15 laps around the training room in 20 minutes?"

Shiro smirked, "Bring it on, Reid."

"You start that timer-thingy." Analysse pointed at Shiro's wrist.

Shiro started it up and pressed clear from the last time, "Ready?" The two of them got into their starting positions. "Go!" The two of them went off together at a steady pace next to each other.

...

"And done!" Shiro exclaims and slowed down to a walk.

Analysse stopped in her tracks, panting, sweat rolling down her face. Shiro didn't look much better, "I totally won that one."

"Ana, you look like you are going to pass out," Shiro said between gasps of air.

"You don't look too hot yourself," Analysse teased.

Shiro laughed and bent over to collect his breath.

Analysse's eyes widened in realization, "Shiro, I forgot to stretch."

Shiro made a whining sound, "So did I..."

They both knew it was going to be hell tomorrow morning.

…

Showering in a huge alien ship is a lot different than showering in a small apartment that was right on the beach. Alteans, fortunately, shower like humans, so that made Analysse extremely happy. She couldn't imagine not showering. Their shampoo was weird, so it was a great idea that she grabbed a large supply of shampoo, conditioner and body soap from Earth.

Feeling refreshed, Analysse stepped out of the massive shower and dried herself off in a towel. After she was dry, she put on her favorite outfit. A white fitted shirt with black jeans and her favorite pair of brown combat boots. To finish off her look, she put on a black leather bomber jacket that had a Top Gun symbol on the sleeve.

She made her way over to the control room and was surprised to hear cheerful greetings.

"Keith, you're back!" She heard Lance say.

"We've missed you so much!" Analysse walked in to see Pidge clinging onto the black-haired boy's side.

"Hey everyone! I missed you all too," Keith replied by rubbing Pidge's head.

Shiro was the next one to pull Keith into a hug, "It's good to have you back."

Analysse stared at Keith, no one realized she was standing there with tears in her eyes. She hasn't seen Keith in five years. He wasn't a little kid anymore, in fact, he was a man. Seeing her two favorite boys hugging made her feel like she missed out on everything. She missed them so much. "Keith?" She spoke softly.

Keith looked up, confused by the familiar voice. Once he saw her, he broke into a smile, "Analysse, wha-what are you doing here?"

Analysse walked over and pulled Keith into a hug, "I missed you so much, kiddo!"

Keith laughed and returned the hug, "'Kiddo?' You do know I'm 18 now right."

Analysse patted him on the shoulder, "You're always going to be that troublesome, adorable 10- year-old that was always a pain in my butt." Keith glared and ignored the snickers from the other Paladins. "I was requested for a mission to help the Paladins of Voltron." Analysse explained, "It was a once in a lifetime opportunity, so I took it."

"So, Keith," Princess Allura stepped up. "I'm happy to see that you are well and back home, but I must ask you… Why are here, and why did you bring a Galran soldier?"

Everyone turned their attention to a woman in a Galran general uniform, she stood very quiet at the side that no one really noticed she was there until she was mentioned. Analysse gasped as she saw her. The Galran was tall for what would be human female standards, and she had purple skin, yellowish eyes and dark purple scars on her face. She became alert as the woman walked closer to Keith.

"Isn't Galra the enemy?" Analysse glared and reached for her guns.

"Wait!" Keith stepped forward. "She's a part of the Blades. She's an ally…"

"My name is Krolia, it's a pleasure to meet all of you." She looked over at Shiro and Analysse, "You must be Shiro and Analysse," she reached over to shake Shiro's hand, and he gladly shook it. She then reached out to Analysse. Krolia smiled sweetly at Analysse, even though she threatened to shoot her. Feeling like she can trust Krolia, she shook her hand firmly. "Keith has told me all about you two, thank you for raising him to be the man he is today."

Shiro and Analysse looked at each other in confusion, Keith glanced away, "Krolia… She is my mother."

Shiro's eyes widened, "It's an honor to meet you." Analysse was shocked beyond words.

"What!" Lance jumped into the conversation. "This is nuts, we haven't seen you in months and you drop in with your Galra mom out of nowhere?"

"What is your purpose being here?" Coran asked.

"The Blades of Marmora are concerned with how close Lotor is with you and helping him build a powerful ship to enter the quintessence field. We were sent to make sure things are in line." Krolia explained to the Paladins.

"Is he here now?" Keith asked.

Allura crossed her arms, "He is an emperor, he can't stay here all the time." She glared, "And there's no need of concern, I trust Lotor, you can trust him."

"We just want to be careful," Keith declared.

"I know what I'm doing, Keith." Allura got defensive.

Keith was getting impatient, "Allura, he is the Galran Emperor, we have to be cautious."

"It doesn't matter if he is Galran or not, I trust him."

Keith scoffed, "You know, I find it funny that you trust Lotor more than me when you found out that I was part Galra. At least I didn't try to kill everybody."

"He is also Altean!" Allura exclaimed.

Shiro stepped in between the two, "Alright, I heard enough of this argument!"

Analysse scooted over to Lance, Pidge and Hunk, who stood far away from the other adults. "Um," Analysse started. "I so confused, what is going on?"

"You missed months of drama," Hunk whispered.

Allura signed, "You are right, I'm very sorry Keith. I've been very stressed and tired lately."

Keith nodded, "It's alright Princess, I just want you to be prepared if anything happens."

"Of course."

After everything settled down for a bit, Analysse walked up to Keith and Krolia when they were alone. "Krolia, I would like to apologize for my reaction."

Krolia smiled, "All of this must be new to you. Keith told me you are in the Navy?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"You are an honor to your country," Krolia smiled and placed a hand on her son's shoulder. "I'm going to call in, Kolivan is probably wondering about us."

"Okay."

Analysse crossed her arms and smiled at Keith, "So, what's your story?"

"Huh?" Keith looked at Analysse confused.

"I want to hear your story. Your great adventure as the Red and Black Paladin and now a Blade of Malmora." Analysse said.

Keith laughed, "Marmora."

"Oh," Analysse laughed. "Just give me some time to get all these space terms right."

Keith signed, "Where do I start?"

"Start at the best part," Analysse encouraged.

Keith smiled, "So, it all started when I got kicked out of the Garrison…"

Analysse froze and stared at Keith in disbelief. "You what…"

Keith looked at Analysse and realized his mistake. "Oh quiznak, uh…"

"KEITH STEVEN KOGANE!"


	3. Chapter 3

Analysse stared up in complete wonder, fascinated by what was standing next to her. "This is unbelievable!" She gestured to the five lions. "This is Voltron?"

"Not quite," Shiro spoke up. "These five lions combine into one, they form into Voltron."

"Let's show her!" Lance exclaimed and started to walk toward the Red Lion.

Shiro laughed, "Hold on Lance, she'll have a chance when we are in battle. When she will be fighting alongside us."

"It would be quite magical for you, wouldn't it?" Allura smiled as she turned to Analysse. Before she could respond a ringing sound from her suit caused her to look down at her wrist. She tapped her wrist and a hologram of a young Galran with white long hair appeared.

"Princess Allura, I should be departing in two doboshs. Are you ready to continue our work?" He asked.

Allura smiled sweetly at him, "Of course I am, I'll go open a wormhole for you."

"I'll see you soon, Princess."

Allura hung up with a smile and light blush. "Excuse me." She glanced at Analysse, who looked back at her in surprise.

"It looks like the Princess has the hots for this Lotor guy," Analysse announced once Allura was out of the room.

Lance made a growling noise and crossed his arms. "For once, I'm with Keith." Lance said. "I don't like how he is getting to close with her." Analysse looked at Lance and saw hurt in his eyes. It didn't take a genius to realize that Lance was head over heels for Allura. Analysse felt for the poor boy; love hurts. Especially if war is involved. She knows all too well...

"It would be a good idea to stay on our toes," Shiro agreed.

Lance stretched, "I'm going to go see what Hunk has whipped up for breakfast, I'm starving."

Analysse just realized she hasn't eaten since she got here. Her stomach growled so loud, it could have been mistaken for one of the lions' roars. She felt her face heat up as Shiro and Lance stared at her in shock.

"Oh my gosh, we forgot to feed you!" Lance exclaimed.

"Why didn't you say anything!" Shiro also exclaimed.

Analysse's face somehow got redder, "I don't know, I was so excited about being here, I didn't really realize!"

...

Analysse sighed as she put her fork in her empty plate. "That was so good!" She looked at Hunk. "You have a talent!"

"Thank you!" Hunk smiled. "I just used - "

Lance covered Hunk's mouth with his hand, "Nope, don't ever tell us what you use as the ingredients, just let us like it."

Small squeak noises came from the end of the table. Analysse looked over and saw four mice, that were different colors, run in front of her and look up at her with curiosity. "Are those... space mice?"

"Yep," Shiro said. "They are actually really friendly. They must be curious about you."

"And don't worry, they are clean," Hunk said. "I gave them a bath yesterday."

Analysse smiled and cupped her hands on the table, "Hey there!" The mice ran into her hands and smelt her. She brought them to eye level, "You're so cute!"

The blue mouse with red eyes looked at Analysse and licked her nose. "That one is usually always grumpy," Lance laughed. "She only does that to Allura."

The mice decided that they wanted to hang around Analysse, so they all piled up on her shoulder and sat down for a nap.

"Aw," Hunk put his hands on his face. "They love you!"

"Animals always loved Ana," Shiro smiled.

Analysse laughed, "Do you remember that scared dog in the park outside the Garrison? It was growling at everyone and I slowly approached it."

Shiro's eyes widened, "Yeah, I thought you were insane!"

"It turned out to be a sweetheart! We tried to smuggle him back into my dorm." Analysse looked at Hunk and Lance, who stared back at the two.

Shiro laughed, remembering. "Iverson was so mad when he caught us."

Lance looked at Shiro, "Wait, you helped her? You would get in trouble?" Lance found it hard to believe.

"It was because of her!" Shiro gestured to Analysse.

"Wha- "Analysse gaped, giving Shiro and look. "Remember you sneaked me out of my dorm past curfew, so we can go to a party in town?"

Shiro smirked, "Yeah, but my plans never got us caught."

Analysse was about to argue but flushed a little when she realized he was right, "Yeah, you are right..."

Hunk and Lance gave each other a look and felt weird being in the conversation.

The door opened, cutting off the conversation. Allura walks in with a tall Galran with long flowing hair.

"Ah there you are," Allura smiles at Analysse. "There is someone I like you to meet!" Allura turns and smiles at the Galran, "Analysse, this is the Galran emperor, Lotor. Lotor, this is Lt. Analysse Reid. She's from Earth, helping us with the rebel Galran."

Lotor smiles and bows his head at Analysse, "Hello Lieutenant, it's a pleasure to meet you." He reaches his hand out.

Analysse stares at Lotor for a moment, remembering that Keith has mentioned that he didn't trust Lotor... She's going to play this smart... She took his hand and shook it, like any other military greeting. "Hello sir."

Lotor laughed, "There is no need to call me sir, you can just call me Lotor."

"You can call me Analysse."

"We will be working on the ship, call us if you need us!" Allura smiled and waved at everyone.

"You got it." Shiro nodded.

Lance let out a low growl, "Maybe I should go watch them."

"No," Shiro grabbed Lance's arm as he walked towards the door. "You will not. Allura will be fine."

Lance crossed his arms, "Well, what can I do? I worked out already. Play Mercury Gameflux Two?"

Analysse's eyes lit up, "Wait, you have Mercury Gameflux Two in space?"

"Yeah!" Lance smiled, "Want to play?"

"Absolutely!"

Analysse and Lance sat on the floor in Lance's room, playing a game on the Mercury Gameflux Two. Lance was frowning and sticking his tongue out in concentration. Analysse sat there with a smirk on her face. She was in first place, Lance was in second.

"Come on, come on, come on, almost there..."

"I win... again."

"Aw man!" Lance dropped his controller and crossed his arms over his knees. "How did I lose to a girl?"

"Ha, really?" Analysse raised her eye brow, "You're going to throw the gender card down huh? I used to play this all the time with my little siblings. They would beg for me to play with them. I got so tired of it, I would practice until I was so good at the game, they stopped asking me because they didn't want me to win all the time."

Lance glanced over at her, "That's evil."

"It's smart." Analysse stood up and stretched. "Anyway, I'm going to do some target practice, want to join?"

"No thanks, I'm pretty tired, I think I'm going to go take a nap."

Analysse smiled, "Alright, have a nice nap."

"Thanks, I will!"

Walking to the training room, Analysse heard shouts and grunts coming from inside. Inside, Pidge was jumping and attacking with her Bayard. Her targets were white alien-looking robots and attacked Pidge with swords.

"Whoa!" Pidge tripped and fell forward, her glasses sliding up her face. Analysse cringed, that must have hurt. She hoped her glasses didn't break.

Pidge didn't get up right away, which worried Analysse, the alien robot was still coming at her. Not wanting Pidge to get hurt even more, Analysse stepped inside and shot the robot in the back, causing it to fall down inches away from the young teen.

"You okay?" Analysse walked over and bent down next to Pidge. "That was quite a fall." She held out a hand to help her up.

Pidge looked away, ignoring the help up. She was embarrassed to be seen falling and making it seem as if she was weak. "I'm fine." She answered. She took off her glasses and rubbed the spot that hurt. The glasses scratched the bridge of her nose, it was red, but it wasn't bleeding.

"Did your glasses cut you?" Analysse asked, trying to make some sort of conversation with the young teen.

"No, I am fine," Pidge gave a small smile. "I promise. And besides, I had much worse injuries."

Analysse frowned at that comment. Her heart pinged with sadness at the thought of Pidge being severely injured. She was just a child. A child who was thrown into war. "Well, in that case," Analysse stood up and smiled down at Pidge. "What do you say we both go a few rounds?"

"That sounds like a plan!" Pidge smiled and jolted up. "Restart!"

Analysse was shocked to see the robot she just shot down come back up and reboot itself. "Whoa, that is cool."

Pidge glanced at Analysse, "Space is just full of surprises, huh?"

"More than I could ever imagine..."

...

"And so, Matt and I defeated him together!" Pidge exclaimed. "It was so cool!"

Analysse giggled, "I'm so happy for you Pidge! You finally got to see your family! I'm glad your brother and father are alright."

"Thank you, I'm glad too." She smiled. "I'm sure my mom is happy to have my dad back, but I'm sure she misses us... oh my gosh, I'm going to be grounded until I get married... and that may be never!"

Analysse laughed, "I'm sure you won't be grounded that long, she must know what you are doing is for the greater good."

"Yeah." The two laid in silence on the training room ground for a few minutes until Pidge asked a question. "Analysse, may I ask you something?"

"Sure, what's up?"

"You served during World War Three, right?" Pidge asked.

"Yes, I did."

Pidge became quiet, "Is war worth it?"

Analysse was taken back by that question. Was it worth it? The things she seen. The things she lost.

She was a rookie. Her ego was too big. She was too young. She made a _horrible_ mistake.

It was a bad dogfight. One of the worst in the war.

She was so _careless._

Falcon- Lt. Bailey Morrison - her best friend- her wingman.

Fear.

Pain.

"Analysse..."

Analysse jumped at the worried voice. She didn't realize it but, she was starting to hyperventilate... The memories flooded back... She thought she was over it but... Those kinds of things don't just go away.

Pidge looked sad and worried, "I- I am so sorry for asking you that, I- I should have thought it through-."

"Pidge," Analysse interrupted and recollected herself. "You're alright. To answer your question, yes. It's worth it. In the end, you fought to make a difference."

...

An alarm rang, signaling Analysse to get up and start the day. It was six in the morning, well in Earth time. She didn't get much sleep last night; many nightmares came to visit over the night.

She started her day off with two hours of training, it was a struggle since her lack of sleep, but she didn't let that bother her.

After her workout she showered, dressed and then head over to the kitchen to get something to eat. As she walked in, she saw Hunk fixing something up in a mixing bowl.

"Oh, hello Lt. Reid, good morning."

"Morning, and please call me Analysse." Analysse smiled. "We are not in uniform."

Hunk smiled, "Good morning Analysse, did you sleep well?"

For the sake of not answering further questions, Analysse responded with, "Yeah, I slept great!" She looked at what Hunk was making. It looked like cinnamon rolls. "Are those cinnamon rolls?"

"Not quite, but they taste a lot similar!" Hunk rushed over to the ingredients and excitedly showed Analysse what he got.

Hunk blurted out words that did not process into Analysse's mind, but she was just happy that Hunk was happy.

In the middle of Hunk's explanation, Keith walked in. "Hunk, calm down you do know that she doesn't know space words." Keith sat down on the high chair next to Analysse. He took a bowl that contained what looked like icing and dipped his finger in it, scooping out some for him to taste. As he put his finger to his mouth Hunk hit Keith over the head with a wooden spoon. "Ow, Hunk!"

"You get your nasty fingers out of my icing!" Hunk exclaimed angrily. "I don't care if you were leader, you don't ever put your fingers in any of my dishes before I serve them.

Keith tried not to let out a laugh, seeing Hunk this mad was out of character, "Yes Hunk, sorry."

"It's okay, you learned your lesson."

Analysse leaned in closer to Keith so Hunk wouldn't hear. "So did I, I was eyeing that icing for a while..."

"He is really passionate about his cooking."

...

Analysse sighed and leaned back, "Man, I can get use to this..."

"Did you not cook living alone in Miramar?" Hunk teased.

"No, I usually just go Culver's or Wendy's..." Everyone laughed but when they realized that she wasn't laughing with them, they stared at her.

"Wait, really?" Lance asked.

"I never learned how to cook!"

Shiro massage his temples, "Ana, please tell me that you didn't eat chicken nuggets every time." Analysse made a face letting everyone know that she did.

"But I ate veggies too..."

Hunk stood up, "Well good thing I'm here! I'll teach you. So, when you go back to Earth you can properly eat."

"Thanks." She smiled.

Shiro stood up as well, "Alright team, bonding exercises," Everyone groaned. "Guys, we are all we have so you better get used to it." He turned to Analysse too. "You'll be joining in our exercise as well."

"Alright."

...

"Alright so here is the scenario, your comrade is injured and unconscious. You must fight off enemies while you are taking them to safety. I'll assign teams. Ana, Allura you are a team, talk to each other to find out who will be the injured.

Analysse and Allura walk to each other, "if you don't mind, is it okay if I was the injured comrade. I would like to see how you fight and how you will hold out in this situation."

"Of course, Princess."

"Hunk and Pidge, you are a team."

"Team Punk!" The two clap hands.

"And that leaves Keith and Lance."

"No way!"

"Not happening!"

The two were sulking.

"So, I'll pick the injured comrade... Keith."

"No way, he is going to drop me and leave me for dead!"

"You know it, mullet!"

Analysse leans closer to Allura, "I don't get it, weren't they buddy-buddy yesterday?"

Allura shrugged, "I think that's just how their friendship goes."

...

It was harder than expected, holding someone while fighting off a horde of enemies left and right was extremely challenging. In fact, Hunk and Pidge were the first ones out. Hunk tripped and dropped Pidge. In a real-life scenario, Hunk would have been injured as well and they both could parish. Analysse was slow with on-foot combat. It's completely different than in the air, but she held out well until a robot hit her on her side, causing her to drop Allura and tumble on her side.

"Sorry Allura..." She mumbled, rubbing her hip. That was going to bruise in the morning.

Allura put a hand on her shoulder, "You did well."

Lance was doing a fantastic job. Even Keith was impressed by him. Lance was exhausted though. As the robot attacked Lance, he shot at it, however, Lance was a second late and it hit him across the face, sending him to his knees.

Analysse flinched, these training sessions were rough.

Keith patted Lance on the back. "You did good, Lance."

Lance gave him a look, "I failed."

Crossing his arms, he said, "You've improved. If I was injured, I rather have you help me get back to safety."

"Great job, Lance!" Shiro exclaimed.

"You are improving Lance, keep up the good work." Allura flashed him a big smile.

Lance blushed and smiled back at her.

...

Analysse pasted back and forth, thinking about how things here going back on Earth. In the control room, she tried to contact Commander Holt, however she wasn't getting through. Maybe it was a onetime thing? Space technology still really confused her. She wondered how her platoon was doing. How foreign relations has been...

"You seem restless."

Analysse gasped and turned to see who entered. "Oh Shiro, you scared me!" She held her chest and took a deep breath. "I am, I want to know what's going on in Earth."

"I'm sure everything is fine." He stood next to her.

Analysse started biting at her nails, "Well, things have been a little dicey with us and other countries... If sometimes happens, I feel like I need to be there."

Shiro puts a hand on her shoulder, "Hey, we need you here with us. There's a war going on here right now and we need all the help we can get... I'm glad you are here."

"Thanks, Shiro." She smiled and relaxed under his touch.

The two stood in silence as they watched the stars. Shiro glanced over at Analysse as she started messing with her finger nails again. He knew what that meant.

"Want to go for a ride?"

She looked at him happily, "Yes."

...

"Why do things always become competitions with you!" Shiro laughed as he was having trouble keeping up with Analysse.

Analysse snickered, "Aw what's the matter?" She asked in a teasing tone. "Afraid to be beaten by me, like always?"

"Not always!"

"Okay you are right, you only beat me that one time in Scrabble!"

The two laughed as they continued their race.

The Black Lion purred And Shiro smiled. It seemed like the Lion didn't like the teasing. "Sorry Ana."

"Sorry that you are a sore loser?"

Shiro activates his Bayard, "No, sorry that I am a sore winner!"

Analysse gasped as she saw Shiro zoom past her in the Black Lion, which now had wings.

"No way!" She exclaimed as she watched Shiro fly. "Amazing..."

"He didn't like what you were saying," Shiro said.

"I guess not..." She stared as she flew closer to the Black Lion. "This is phenomenal! It's- I don't have words to describe... Can I try flying it?"

...

Inside the Black Lion, Shiro yawned as he continued to watch Analysse activate the Black Lion. "Come on kitty kitty, give me something."

"Ana, it's been ten minutes."

She didn't respond, she was too busy "bonding" with the Lion.

Shiro sighed and leaned over her, "face it, you are just disappointed that I won."

Analysse laughed, "You, me, Monopoly, tomorrow."

Shiro laughed as well, "I think I'll pass."

Analysse looked up and smiled, "Afraid to lose?"

"Petrified." He tried at sound bored but laughed a little.

Analysse sighed and leaned back, "I don't think the kitty likes me very much."

Shiro laughed, "That's not the case, he is just picky on who he wants to listen too." He gave her a light push. "I'm going to the break room, want to come?"

"Sure."

...

"Thanks for bringing all these books back," Shiro lifted a book in his hands. "I can actually understand these."

"I thought it would be nice to have." Analysse smiled. "I remembered you loved reading, we would read together all the time." She wasn't going to say it out loud but, those where her favorite dates they would go on. Saying inside and read books.

Shiro smiled at the memory, "It feels like forever ago..."

"Yeah..." They fell in a comfortable silence as they read their books.

...

Yawning, Shiro closed his book and rubbed his eyes. It's been about three hours and he finished the book, all 400 pages. He turned to look at Analysse, who was fast asleep, curled up on the couch, with her book clutched to her chest.

Shiro gave a soft smile, she always fell asleep curled up, and it was still adorable. He took the book from her and placed it on the table. He carefully turned Analysse on her back, so she can pick her up and carry her to bed.

It felt like nothing really changed between them, but at the same time, everything was different... His heart ached, maybe things aren't supposed to be the way they were before.

At least they are still the best of friends.


	4. Chapter 4

"Are you completely sure about this?"

"Absolutely."

"I doubled in size you know? I had to fight in competitions for a year to survive..."

"I know."

"Well, I don't want to hurt you..."

"Shiro, I just want to practice one-on-one hand combat."

Shiro gestures to Analysse's body, "Yeah but I mean, you are tiny!"

"Dude, I have abs!" She lifted a part of her tank top to reveal her toned stomach.

"Dang, Ana!"

"Come on, let's fight!" She went ahead and charged at Shiro.

Shiro dodged, and parried, "You know I could never win in our arguments."

Analysse smirked, "Yeah, so why even try!"

The two didn't hold back against each other. They fought like they were enemies. Each punch was dodged. Their bodies moved around each other. Analysse tries to trip Shiro, however, he jumped out of the way.

"That was good," Analysse laughed.

"Nice try, it did surprise me."

Analysse charged and was able to make contact on Shiro's upper arm. Shiro flinched but continued dodging. He could tell she was getting tired. Her moves were getting sluggish and sloppy, her eyes looked a little glossy. He wondered if she was more mentally tired than physically tired.

She landed a kick on his thigh.

Maybe he should focus and ask her about it later. Her kicks and punches hurt more than they use to...

Shiro saw an opening and strikes.

"Ah!" Analysse doubled over in pain, clutching her stomach.

Shiro froze, that punch was really hard...and it was from his metal arm... "oh my gosh, Ana! I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have used my metal arm- "

Analysse rushed at Shiro and managed to lift him and slam him into his back.

"Wha-?" Shiro coughed and tried to sit back up but Analysse kicked his chest back down and sat down on him so he wouldn't be able to move.

"This is where I repeatedly punch you until you are unconscious."

"You're uh, kind of scary."

"I've been in a few bar fights."

Shiro looked at her in concern, "Really?"

Analysse giggled and rolled off him, laying right next to him, "No, I just never stopped training. Wrote down every move the Fighting and Weapons training in the Garrison taught me and I did basic training in the Navy."

"Hm," Shiro was impressed. "I'm proud of you, Ana." Analysse looked over at him in surprise. "I just wish I was there to see all of your achievements."

Analysse smiled, "In a way you were, I remembered everything you told me." She laughed, "There was something you always told me, and I'll never forget it."

"Patience yields focus," The two said in unison. The two laugh and glance at each other.

"It just stuck with me."

"Yeah."

An alarm blared causing the two to jump up.

"Paladins! Sendek's troops are here-" Suddenly the castle shook and the lights flickered. "Get to your Lions!" Allura commanded.

"Let's go!" Ana patted Shiro's shoulder.

...

Analysse stared at her monitor as she started her jet. There were so many Galra ships. She was trying to figure out a plan before she went in there.

"Alright Paladins, tell me what you think," Analysse asked.

"Hold on, still trying to get to our Lions," Hunk shouting.

"Well hurry up, I'm about to head out," Analysse replied.

"I'm in the Black Lion," Shiro announced.

"Alright Shiro, while we wait for the others, this is what we are going to do, we take out those small but fast ships first, once we have everyone, we will have seven ships," Analysse said as she about to fly out of the hanger.

"Wait, Ana, are you sure you are up for this, there are a lot of them out there and this is your first space battle," Shiro asked. She already took one out and Shiro started to regret what he just asked.

"I know you are looking after me Shiro, but I know what I'm doing."

"Fair enough, let's do this."

After everyone got to their lions, the Galra started to fire nonstop.

"Everyone stay on someone! Make sure you can defend each other!" Analysse ordered as she took out two ships before they hit Keith.

"Thanks, Analysse, that's some fancy flying you got there!" Keith complimented.

"No problem!"

"Gah!" Pidge took a hit. "Where did that come from!"

A giant cursor appeared and sent a beam towards the team.

"Geez!" Analysse moved out of the way before she was hit, but the energy of the beam caused her jet to shake. "We got to take that thing out!"

"We got to form Voltron!" Lance shouted.

"Wait!" Shiro exclaimed. "Pidge scan the ship to see if there are possible prisoners.

"Roger that!" Pidge started to scan the cursor and grimaced. "Shiro, according to my scanner, there's a couple of heat signatures huddled together in the lower part of the ship.

"That's the cell... we have to get those people out of there, we can't just destroy the ship."

"If you haven't noticed," Analysse grunted, she got hit, "We are still under heavy fire!"

Shiro paused to think, "Keith, Ana, I need you two to get in there and get those people out."

"What about you guys?" Keith asked.

Shiro smirked, "Form Voltron!"

Analysse watched in awe as the five lions all joined together, forming as one gigantic, robot-looking man.

"Well, Great Balls of Fire..." Analysse gasped.

"We will take out these little guys as you go and rescue the prisoners, we should buy you some time," Lance said.

"Make it fast you guys!" Shiro ordered.

"Roger that!" Analysse exclaimed as she followed Keith towards the cursor.

Once they landed safely on the cursor, they wasted no time and headed straight inside. They ducked behind walls, so they wouldn't be spotted. Two Galra soldiers patrolled the area that was near the prison. Analysse and Keith looked at each other and nodded. Analysse signaled Keith to take the one on the right while she took the one on the left. Quietly, the two snuck up on the Galra, Keith was the first one to charge, Analysse a second behind him. Keith used his blade, he made it quick and quiet. Analysse was a little clumsy. She's not very experienced with hand combat, she was better at flying and shooting things up in the air. Analysse cringed as the Galra made loud choking noises. It may bring unwatched attention. Keith was readying his blade but Analysse quickly finished the job with the quick twist in her arms.

Keith stared at Analysse worryingly, she looked a little upset as she gently placed the Galra on the ground next to the one Keith killed. "You alright?"

Still staring at the one she killed, she nodded, "Yeah, it's just a little different on the ground you know? When you're up there, at least you don't see or feel them dying by your own hands." She wiped her hands on her suit, feeling dirty. She glanced back at Keith, who was still wearing a worried expression. She smiled and patted his shoulder, "I'm fine kid, I'll be over it soon, let's just get out of here just in case someone heard us."

"Right." With that said, Keith held his blade out as he took the lead. Analysse took her gun out and took the rear. "Don't fire your weapon until absolutely necessary, we don't want to attract anyone."

"Copy."

Keith seemed to know where he was going, so Analysse never questioned him. Suddenly he came to a stop and held out his arm. "This is the prison hallway; the doors are closed but I bet a patrol of at least two Galran is in there. We need to make it quick and we need to make it quiet." Analysse nodded in agreement.

Keith placed his hand on the scanner next to the door, slowly the door opened and two Galra soldiers turn around confused to what was going on.

Keith threw his blade, it was embedded into one of the Galra's chest.

"Oh, quiznack!" The second Galran exclaimed. Analysse rushed in while he was fumbling with his gun and bolley kicked him, causing him to fall backward, throwing his gun up in the air. Analysse caught it midair and hit the Galran over the head with it. The Galran went still on the ground.

"W-what is going on out there?" A woman's voice asked.

"We are here to get you out!" Keith exclaimed. Analysse ran over to place her hand on the scanner but Keith called out to her before she did. "Wait, Analysse don't touch that! You'll set the alarm."

"Uh..." Analysse backed away and let Keith place his hand on the scanner. When no alarm went off and the doors opened, Analysse just looked at him. "Some Galra thing?"

"Something like that," Keith laughed. They both walked in and introduced themselves to the prisoners. "I'm Keith, I'm in the Blade of Marmora, this is Analysse, we are both with the paladins of Voltron we are here to help you."

"Is Voltron here?" One alien, a fairy looking creature with pink feathered wings stepped forward. She had horns on top of her head with long pointy ears. She wore a crown on top of her purple flowing hair. She looked elegant.

"Yes, he is outside waiting to destroy this ship, we must hurry," Analysse answered and untied everyone. There were five of these alien creatures, two women, three men.

"Are any of you hurt?" Keith asked.

"T-they fractured our wings as we were captured." One of the men said.

Analysse looked at all of them after she finished untying them. "We will listen to your story once we get to the Castle of Lions."

" _You guys okay?"_ Shiro came through.

"Yeah, we just got them!" Analysse responded.

" _They are about to flee, you need to get out of there_!" Lance exclaimed.

"We are on our way, buy us a little bit of time," Keith called back. He looked at Analysse, "Get them out of here, I'm going to see if there is anyone else left."

Analysse nodded and gathered everyone, "Everyone stay close to me!" She had her guns ready and started jogging off.

Keith rushed to every cell. Most of them were empty, some of them, it was too late. When Keith opened the last one, he heard a whimper.

"Hey, I'm here to get you out of here," Keith called out, not seeing anything. He got no response. "There's nothing to be afraid of, you are free now." Keith walked in and noticed a dark mass huddled by the corner of the wall. When he approached, he realized it was a small wolf puppy. It was black with blue markings, it was beautiful, but it was terrified. "Hey, it's okay buddy," Keith said in a soft voice as he got down on his knees. The puppy was chained to the wall. Keith broke the chain with his blade and took the chain collar off its neck. "That probably feels much better now, huh?" Keith carefully pets the puppy's head. The wolf pup wagged its tail and licked Keith's fingers. "I'll take that as thanks, come on."

...

"Where's Keith?" Shiro asked.

"He is checking if anyone else is there!" Analysse responded.

"There he is!" Pidge exclaimed.

"Sorry, I'm late!"

"Alright let's finish this!" Lance exclaimed forming a flaming sword.

Voltron took out the cursor, slashing it in half.

"Well, glad we weren't in there." Analysse joked, impressed by the power of Voltron.

...

The Paladins and the rescued aliens sat down in the lounge. The first thing everyone looked at was the tiny wolf puppy curled up in Keith's lap.

"She was chained to the wall," Keith explained as he gently pets her. "I didn't want to just leave her."

"They were probably going to train her to fight." One of the winged aliens said. "They are monsters."

Shiro turned to look at the one with the crown, "We are glad you are safe, I noticed you are injured. Is there anything we can do?"

She shook her head, "No, only a potion on my planet can heal our wings. Or we'll have to wait weeks for them to heal by themselves." She tried to move her feathery wings but cringed in pain. She looked at Keith and Analysse, "Thank you so much for freeing us. My people and I are very grateful. I am Rydia from Fee, these here are my loyal servants."

"Loyal servants?" Analysse asked.

"Ah, yes," Rydia looked embarrassed. "I am the crowned Princess of Fee. The Galra attacked my people, many Feeraen's died. I turned myself in to save my people and my family. Oh, how I miss them..."

"We will get you back, Princess," Keith assured. "But right now, you all should eat and rest, tomorrow we will bring you home."

"Thank you, Blade." She smiled.

"Keith," He smiled back.

She laughed, "Thank you, Keith."

The puppy yawned and opened her eyes, seeing everyone surround her, she wagged her tail. "Good morning, buddy." The puppy turned to look at Keith. The two looked at each other for a moment and then it jumped up, licking Keith's face all over. "H-hey!" Keith laughed.

The others laughed and smiled at the sweet moment. "It's just a boy and his alien dog," Lance teased.

"I've only known her for about 20 minutes and she completely stole my heart, I love her." Keith pets his new puppy and lets her nibble on his hand.

"Do you know how to train a dog?" Analysse asked. Keith's silence was a clear message. She laughed, "I was raised with a dog. I'll help you, the first thing you got to do is not let her nibble on you."

Keith looked up, giving her a sad expression, "But she is playing, it's adorable."

"Keith, it's a wolf," Analysse said directly.

Krolia laughed, "Looks like you have a lot to learn."

...

The paladins returned Princess Rydia and her servants back to planet Fee safely with the help of emperor Lotor. He helped by patrolling the solar system to make sure none of Sendek's ships were out and about. Rydia did not trust Lotor at first but warmed up once Allura assured her. "I'm glad to have you on our side, Emperor Lotor," Rydia said. "The King and Queen are holding a ball, I would like for you all to attend."

Allura smiled, "Thank you, Rydia." She looked extremely happy and excited, "Paladins, I would like for you to dress in Altean attire. Boys, Coran will show you what to wear. Krolia and Analysse come with me!" Before she went off, she stopped to look at Pidge who seemed nervous, "Pidge, would you prefer to wear a dress or a suit?"

Pidge was surprised to be asked for a suggestion, she smiled and said, "Actually, can I wear a dress? I miss wearing them."

"Absolutely, come!"

...

The King and Queen were extremely happy for their daughter to be home. They wouldn't stop hugging Keith and Analysse for the rescue. Feeraen's are very touchy beings. Analysse just went with the flow of things while Keith hated every moment. He tried his hardest to stay away from the parents.

"Do Earthlings not like affection?" Allura asked once she noticed Keith avoiding the King and Queen.

Analysse sighed, "He doesn't really like people touching him, he's not used to it, I guess. It took months for Shiro and me to be able to hug him and stuff. I think it's a trust thing."

Allura looked concerned, "Was he abused by his father?"

Analysse's eyes widened, "Oh no!" She explained quickly. "Not at all! Keith and his father were extremely close, they loved each other so much. Keith would go on and on about his father when we finally got him to open up, he only said good things about him. I don't know why Keith doesn't care for affection, I think the loss of his father kind of shaped that? I don't know, I'm not a psychologist." Analysse scratched at her head.

Allura let the subject go and smiled as Analysse started to fix her hair, "You look absolutely stunning."

Analysse wore a dark blue dress that ended at her knees. It had light blue flower patterns on it and wore silver heels with it. She put on mascara, a little bit of eyeliner and concealer. Her hair was up in a part ponytail. "Thank you so much, Princess. I can't remember the last time I wore a dress or makeup."

"You should more often," Allura smiled. "You know, when you walked into the lounge, Shiro looked blown away, he was blushing a little too."

"Oh, yeah right," Analysse laughed.

Allura laughed, "It's true, Analysse. I'll say he was head over heels for you. I can see that there is still something there."

Analysse looked at Allura, hopeful, "You think so?"

"Yeah," She smiled.

"Hello ladies," Lotor walked up behind the two, holding up two drinks. "You two care for some refreshments?" Allura took the offer while Analysse politely declined. "You two look marvelous." He was only looking at Allura while he said this.

Allura blushed, "Thank you Lotor, you look dashing yourself."

And now Analysse was invisible to the two of them. She said her goodbyes and left the two continue their conversation. She still has her eyes kept on Lotor, just in case he tries to do anything. But he hasn't been a problem yet, she doesn't understand why the Blades are so concerned with having him around.

"Hey," Shiro came up from behind Analysse.

"Oh, hey Shiro," She smiled. "Are you enjoying the party?"

Shiro laughed, "Oh yeah I'm loving the music, I have no idea what they are saying." The music was upbeat and catchy, but the humans had no idea what they were saying."

"I know right!" Analysse agreed. "But at least they have a good taste in music."

They sat in silence, watching the crowd. Analysse laughs and watches as Lance go girl to girl.

"He asked Allura a minute ago and she said no," Analysse told Shiro.

"Typical."

"Oh gosh, he is going to Pidge!" Analysse and Shiro watch and both burst out laughing as Pidge started clutching at her stomach and laughing, Lance looked annoyed and walked away. His eyes met Analysse's and he began smiling again.

"Hey look, he is coming towards you." Shiro teased.

"Oh geez..."

"Hey Analysse, Shiro!" Waiting for Lance to ask to dance, Analysse just smiled. Lance looked at the two and smirked. "Hey, you know what, it's a slow song, Shiro, Analysse, go dance!" Lance grabs the two and drags them onto the dance floor.

"Lance!"

"Hey!

He put their hands together, "Enjoy!" Lance rushed away and went over to Keith who was standing by the food. Lance and Keith tried to secretly high-five each other as they both stared at Shiro and Analysse.

"Was that a- "

"Set up between Keith and Lance?" Analysse finished. "Yep, it looks like that."

"Hey, you don't mind, do you?" Shiro asked.

Analysse glanced at him, "What, dancing?"

"Yeah."

Analysse didn't answer right away, she was looking at her feet, trying not to step on his feet. "Not if you don't mind having your feet stepped on and having a crappy dancer as your partner."

Shiro laughed, "You are a natural, I told you that before."

"You did, when we danced at the Garrison Ball, oh my gosh, how long ago was that?"

…

" _Hey, Analysse!" A bunch of cadets strolls over to Analysse, who became quite popular within the Garrison._

 _Analysse smiled, "Hey everyone!"_

" _We got to know," One Cadet speaks. "What position did you get?"_

" _Fighter Pilot," Analysse smiled. The cadets cheered for her and tried to talk to her, but all Analysse could see was Shiro, in a tux's wave at her from the other side of the room. "Thank you everybody, but I have to go." She made her way over to Shiro, the best friend she ever had. Without him, she wouldn't be where she is today. "Hey."_

" _Hi," Shiro smiled. "You look beautiful."_

 _Analysse looked down at her dark blue dress that fit her figure. She pulled her hair up in an elegant bun and wore winged eyeliner. "Thanks," she chuckled. "You look handsome yourself."_

 _Shiro pulled a smug smile and gripped at his tie, "Why thank you, madam." Analysse rolled her eyes and playfully punched Shiro's arm. "Congrats on becoming a fighter pilot!"_

 _Analysse pushed a stray of her hair behind her ear, "Thanks, but I couldn't do it without you."_

" _What do you mean?" Shiro looked confused. "I didn't do anything. You were the one who did the studying."_

 _Analysse looked up at him, "You are my inspiration. I look up to you and I think you're an amazing pilot! I know greatness when I see it."_

" _Ana..." Shiro's face went bright red, however, Analysse didn't seem to notice._

 _He liked her. He liked her a lot. He was afraid to admit it. He is two years older than her, he was 16 and he is falling for a 14-year-old. But she was someone so important to him. He couldn't help it but hope to be more than friends._

" _Thank you, Ana," Shiro smiled, which she returned. Does she feel the same way?_

 _In fact, she did. And she has for a while. However, she always thought about the age difference, that Shiro wasn't interested in her. But right now, she couldn't stop her feelings. She rushed forward and pulled Shiro in a hug, surprising him. Shiro returned the hug and held her tight. Analysse couldn't help it, she accidentally let out a small sob._

" _Ana?" Shiro looked down at her. "What's wrong?"_

 _Analysse looks up, her face flushed. "It's just- "she couldn't say it, and it frustrated her. "I'm just so glad that I have you."_

 _Shiro's heart fluttered, he wanted to kiss her at that moment. In her pretty blue dress that matched her eyes._

 _She was his star._

 _At that moment, piano music filled the room. Shiro recognized it as Merry Go Round of Life, an old song he remembers his mother playing when he was young._

 _He smiled, "Want to dance?"_

" _Okay," she took his hand and allowed him to guide her to the dance floor where other people started to dance. Once the music started to pick up, she realized she didn't know how to dance that well. "Uh..."_

 _Shiro laughed, "Don't worry, let the music guide your feet, follow my lead."_

 _The two danced in perfect synchrony. They danced like no one was on the dance floor. The ones who didn't dance watched them and commented on how well they were doing._

 _As the song finished, the two bowed at each other._

" _That was amazing!"_

" _You're a natural, is there anything you can't do?" Shiro asked proudly._

" _I certainly cannot knit," Analysse and Shiro both laughed._

 _Shiro grabbed her hand again, "Come on, let's go outside, I kind of need a breather."_

 _The two go outside, still holding each other's hand. They both don't have any intention of letting go. They sit down on the bench in the garden, looking up at the night sky that was covered in stars. The two stared at it for a while, not saying a word._

" _Hey look, a shooting star," Analysse pointed up. But Shiro didn't look, he was staring at her instead. She looked at him in disappointment. "You didn't look."_

 _Shiro squeezes her hand tighter, "I'm looking right at it."_

 _Shiro looked between Analysse's eyes and lips, he wanted to kiss her. They both moved forward, wanting the same thing. He paused just before their lips touched, just in case she wanted to pull back, but she didn't. She parted her lips and closed her eyes. He gently pressed his lips against hers._

 _When they broke apart, Shiro looked into Analysse's eyes, "Will you go out with me."_

 _Analysse smiled and leaned forward to kiss him again, "Yes."_

...

"You know," Shiro started as he moved her closer to him. "We should have danced more often."

"We really should have," Analysse agreed. The two leaned into each other...

"Hey, you two!" Coran ran over to the two and interrupted them. They let out a scream and looked at Coran in surprise. He seemed like he had no idea what he just interrupted. "You have to try this!" The food he handed them on a plate was what looked like a snail shell with a squid tentacle in it.

"Uh, no thanks." The two responded.

"Suit yourself!" Coran bounces away as nothing happened.

Shiro laughed and turned back to Analysse who was looking at the ground. "Hey." Analysse continued staring at the ground. Her heart ached, tears were welling up in her eyes and she was terrified to speak. Shiro understood her message and lowered their hands. "Okay." He said, sounding defeated.

Analysse held his hands tightly before she let go. "I'm sorry." She turned away without looking at him and walked away.

...

Analysse sat outside away from the people inside partying. The music changed to something that was upbeat. Analysse held her arms and tried to warm herself from the cold air. This planet looked a lot like Earth, the night sky was the almost same. The tears finally started to fall from her eyes, but she held back from sobbing.

"You okay?" Analysse jumped and turned to see Krolia come from behind her.

"Krolia!" Analysse carefully whipped the tears, "What are you doing here?"

"I saw what happened, saw you walk away." Krolia sat down next to Analysse. "I thought maybe you wanted some girl talk."

Analysse laughed, "'Girl talk' haven't done that since I was a cadet."

"You still love him, don't you?"

Analysse didn't answer but bounced her leg up and down. Her answer was clear. "This is war." She answered.

"You know, I was in the middle of a war when I met Keith's father," Krolia explained. "We both didn't want anything, but then I had Keith."

Analysse smiled, "Was it really that unexpected?"

Krolia laughed, "Well yes, but the moment I knew I loved his father was when he came home with a giant tree and explained to me the story of Christmas."

"That's sweet." She looked up at the stars and smiled. "For me, it was when he told me I was his star."

...

Shiro sighed and walked off the dance floor heading towards Lance and Keith, who he knew saw the whole thing. The two looked at each other and sadly looked back at Shiro.

"Hey man, I was trying to- you know..." Lance looked at the ground.

"We were trying to get you two to be close again," Keith finished, folding his arms.

Shiro smiled and placed a hand on both of their shoulders. "Thank you, I appreciate that, but I think it's too soon for us to be what we once were." Shiro stepped back and glanced at the ground. "Besides, we are in war, now is not the time." Shiro walked away without saying anything else.

Lance looked at Keith, who seemed to be really upset. "You look more bummed out then Shiro."

"You don't know them the way I do," Keith explained. "They really loved each other. I thought maybe love was real. Back before I knew my mom, I thought she left me and my Pop because she didn't love us-ugh whatever."

"No man, I get it," Lance agreed. "But I also understand Shiro. I've been through heartbreak... A couple of them actually," Lance glanced over at Allura and Lotor. He makes a fist at how close they were. "But you just got to get over it."

Keith glanced at how hurt Lance sounded and watched at how happy Allura looked. "I think you should fight."

Lance looked at Keith in shock, he wasn't expecting to hear that from him. He knew that he was talking about Shiro fighting for Analysse, but he also meant Lance fighting for Allura. Lance smiled, "You're right. I thought I would never say this but, thanks, Keith."

"Yeah whatever," Keith smirked. "Don't do anything stupid."

"Me? Stupid?" Lance laughed as he started to back up. "Yeah, rig- ahh!" Lance knocked over the waiter and they both fell to the floor. "I'm so sorry!"

Keith rolled his eyes and waited until Lance was set, "But remember, keep an eye on Lotor, he still hasn't earned my trust."

"You got it," Lance spoke seriously.

Keith kept an eye on everything. He knew his mother was around somewhere doing the same thing. He spotted Shiro talking to the King and Queen, Analysse dancing and laughing with Pidge and Hunk. Lance chatting with Allura, ignoring Lotor. Lotor said something to Allura, then started walking off into the crowd. Keith kept his eyes on him and started moving to follow him, trying to stay hidden. Suddenly he bumped into someone.

"Excuse me." Keith quickly said and glanced up, but he didn't expect to see her.

Acxa.

Wearing a simple blue dress, she blended well with the crowd. Tension rose between the two, but they did nothing but glare at each other. Cautiously, Acxa continued forward, while Keith stood there, debating whether he should take her down. Instead, he followed.

Lotor and Acxa spoke with each other, but Keith could not hear them. He assumed Acxa told Lotor that she has been seen, so Keith watched from afar and well hidden. Lotor leaned in and whispered in Acxa's ear, she nodded and Lotor walked away.

What were they doing?

Acxa turns her head towards Keith, knowing his location all along. Again, the two only stared. She turned and left, disappearing into the crowd.

...

"Wasn't that wonderful!" Allura exclaimed. "I haven't had that much fun in ages."

Analysse laughed, "You had ballroom dances before like that, haven't you?"

Allura nodded, "Always on a birthday, mine was always the biggest though!" She smiled brightly.

"Must be nice..."

Keith, now having his puppy in his arms, glanced over at Allura, "We only had Garrison Balls, which were always boring."

"Because you never tried to have fun, Keith," Shiro teased.

"We will have to hold more parties!" Allura exclaimed glancing at Coran.

Analysse gave a sad smile, "Princess, I would love to have another royal ball, but we are in war. It must wait."

"You are right," Allura sighed.

Analysse stretched, "Well, that is enough excitement for one day, I'm heading over to the lounge." She looked over at Shiro, who seemed a little distracted. "Hey Shiro, want to finish up that card game?"

Shiro was surprised to see Analysse was talking to him. After what happened tonight, he thought she wouldn't want to talk to him for the rest of the night. He smiled, "Sure."

She smirked, "Prepare for a defeat."

"Yeah," Shiro laughed. "Right."

...

 **Happy New Year everyone! This chapter was originally going to come out before Christmas, but life stinks sometimes. I really enjoy writing this story, I love Analysse so much. Please let me know how you guys like it. I would love to get honest feedback, it helps me become a better writer.**

 **To give a little visual of how Analysse looks like when I first thought about this story, Elena Fisher from the Uncharted video game series really helped me figure out Analysse. Amy Gumenick is also an influence, she played young Mary Winchester in Supernatural.**

 **Look forward to the next chapter!**


	5. Chapter 5

"You know what girls," Analysse spoke as she ran a brush through her hair. "This was not a bad idea."

A couple of weeks have passed, Analysse was getting used to space and developed great relationships with everyone. After many battles with the Galra, everyone needed a break, so it was Analysse's idea for them to do girl and guy nights. So, all the girls are having a huge sleepover in Allura's room while the boys do whatever boys do during guy nights: play video games.

"It feels like forever since I actually did any girly stuff," Pidge admitted while applying a face mask. "Not gonna lie, I sort of miss it."

Analysse grabbed a hair tie and started to wrap her hair in a high, tight bun, "I use to do these all the time with my little sister," she tied the hair tie and patted her bun. "We always loved them." She reached over and grabbed her own packet of face mask.

Allura looked at the green mask warily, "Why does it make your face look green?"

Analysse shrugged, "I don't know." She tossed a packet to Allura, "Go on try it, it's not going to hurt you. Just don't get any in your eyes or mouth."

Allura carefully opened the packet, "What is the purpose of these 'face masks' to hide your face? I see no reason to why we should hide our face, they don't even do a great job with that."

Analysse laughed, "It's not to hide your face, it's to clean your pores and make your skin soft."

"Pores?" Allura tilted her head in confusion and started to place the green liquid on her cheeks.

"Uh, like zits?" Pidge replied.

"What's zits?" Allura asked.

"You know, they are like- little bumps on your face..." Analysse described, poking little dots on her now drying face mask.

Allura shook her head, "Altean's never got those, our skin is always smooth."

Analysse scooted closer to Allura and stared closely at the parts she hasn't covered yet. "Holy crap, you are right!" She looked back to Pidge, "Her skin is literally flawless!"

"That's not fair..."

"It's so not fair..." Analysse wiped her hands off with a towel and grabbed a bag of Arusian chips. Well, they weren't chips, but it was close to it.

Hearing a bag rustle, the cosmic wolf woke from her nap and darted over to Analysse. "Hey girl!" She opened the bag and grabbed a piece, "Sit." The wolf sat. "Good girl! Keith has been training you!" She gave her the chip and pet her head. "But he still hasn't given you a name yet..."

"He has been having trouble deciding," Krolia, who was sitting in the corner, away from the other girls, said.

"He'll figure it out," Analysse shrugged. "Krolia, why don't you join us."

Krolia smiled sweetly, "I'm too old for that stuff."

Analysse's groaned, "Too old? You are never too old for some 'girls' night out!'" She walked over to Krolia and held out a hand, "Come on, let us just do your fingernails, we don't have to do your hair or face mask."

Krolia looked at Analysse's hand for a bit, thinking that all of this was ridiculous. But then she started thinking about how much she loved Earth, and how she wanted to learn its culture. Maybe this is a part of it. She took her hand, "Okay, just my nails. Don't you dare touch the hair."

"Got it!" She replied, smiling.

...

Lance laid on the ground, looking miserable. "Hey guys, do you think Allura likes me?" He asked.

Keith, who was intent on the video game, trying to win a race against Shiro, "I'm not trying to hurt your feelings here, but I'm going to be honest. I don't think she really thinks about you, Lance."

Lance lets out a pitiful moan and covers his face. Shiro ends up winning and just gives Keith a look. "That was a little harsh, man."

"Yeah Keith, look! You made him cry!" Hunk exclaimed.

Some tears were rolling down his temples. Yikes.

"Whoa, hold on I said I didn't mean to hurt your feelings!" Keith exclaimed.

"Yeah, that usually doesn't matter," Shiro muttered to him.

Lance sat up, "I'm never going to get her, am I?"

"Uh, well I mean, keep trying?" Keith tried.

Shiro glared at him, "You don't know how to do emotions, Keith."

"Yeah, no you are right..." Keith backed off.

"Look, Lance," Shiro looked at Lance, "It seems like she isn't really interested right now. I think she is more interested in the ship she is making right now. Now I wouldn't really give up, but maybe try a different approach."

Lance gave Shiro is full attention, "Like what? How did you get Analysse?"

Shiro thought for a second, "Well I never really tried flirting with her, it just happened."

"So, don't flirt with her?" Lance asked.

"I don't think she actually likes it," Keith chipped in.

Lance looked at Keith, "You dated girls back at the Garrison, what did you do."

Keith nervously laughed, "Yeah I'm definitely not a reliable source on dating. All the girlfriends I had lasted a week."

"Again, emotion isn't your thing," Shiro laughed.

"What about you, Hunk?" Lance turns to Hunk.

"Huh?" Hunk looked at them. "Oh, sorry I wasn't paying attention, I was watching Coran get completely destroyed in this game, he thinks he's winning. It's hilarious."

"Woo, go me!" Coran explained as the words _"wasted"_ came on screen. It was a good thing he didn't know how to read English.

...

In the late afternoon the next day, everyone gathered around the lounge.

"Looks like Analysse convinced you to do your nails," Keith gestures towards his mom's pink nails. "It looks good."

"Thanks, Keith," his mom smiled. "I guess that's what Earth female humans do on their free time."

Keith pulled a cocky grin, "Oh yeah, girls love to put on makeup and do their hair to impress the guys."

"Yep, the only reason Shiro dated me." Analysse teased.

"Honestly, I never noticed that stuff," Shiro admitted to Analysse.

She playfully glared at him, "Yeah I know, I had to point it out to you."

Shiro laughed, "Hey, I didn't know."

"I cut four inches of my hair off!" Analysse grabbed her hair and shook it in front of him.

Shiro laughed, "You didn't tell me you were going too, that's why I didn't notice!"

"I wanted to surprise you!" She laughed too, thinking back at the memories.

"Well, I told you looked amazing anyway!"

"You were a terrible boyfriend..." The two laughed with each other, knowing that wasn't true.

"Okay Guys, let's start today's training, head on over to the training room," Shiro announced.

Everyone piled out of the lounge except Shiro, who all the sudden got a massive headache and had to sit down. Analysse sensed something was wrong and turned around before she left the room. "Shiro?" She asked as she saw him holding his head. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Shiro answered a little too quickly. "I've uh, been having these headaches."

"Are they that bad?"

"...Yeah."

Analysse got worried, "Maybe you should sit this one out and go back to bed. I'll lead the training today."

Shiro got back up and started to walk towards the door. "No, they need me."

Now she knew he was hiding something. She put her hand on her hip, "Shiro I know how you get when you start to hide things from me." Shiro said nothing as he walked out the door. Analysse grabs his arm to stop him. "Hey, I'm serious, don't push yourself!"

"Ana, I'm fine." He spoke softly but firmly. She knew he means to drop it. She sighed and let his arm go.

"Fine. But if you pass out, I'm not dragging your ass back in bed," She smiled.

Shiro turned and gave her a smile as well.

...

She woke up, screaming at the top of her lungs and bolted upright. "No, no, no, no..." Analysse repeated. Her breathing escalated, she grabs her chest, pulling at her nightshirt tightly like it was the cause of it hurting.

She could still see it. Jets littered the sky like a flock of birds.

She saw _her_ go down.

Then Analysse's jet suddenly started plummeting down to the blue ocean.

Analysse ejected.

 _She_ didn't.

Analysse can remember the parachute landing on her, causing her to sink fast. She can still hear the missiles and guns. She was so scared, she didn't even realize how far she was going down, it wasn't until she gasped for air, she realized she was dying.

She doesn't remember coming out of the water.

What she does remember, is that her wingman never came back up.

"Ana!" Shiro rushes to Analysse's side. "Hey..." He sits with her and rubs circles on her back. "It's okay, I'm here."

Without thinking, she grabbed Shiro's hand and held it tight. "S-Shiro..."

"It's okay," Shiro soothes her, "Fight through this. Take deep breaths."

Analysse tried to take a deep breath but that only caused her to breathe more rapidly. She grips her chest tighter. "I-I c-can't."

"Shh." He wrapped his arms around her and rested his head on hers. He rocked her back and forth. "You can get through this."

She tried to say something, but it only made it worse.

Shiro never saw her like this but knows what Post Traumatic Distress is when he sees it. Analysse had a dream about the war and it caused a panic attack. He placed a gentle kiss on the top of her head.

Now Analysse was hysterically crying. She never allowed anyone to see her like this. But Shiro has been through so much with her, she allowed herself to break in front of him. She knew he understood her. She leaned into him more, feeling safer in his arms.

They stayed like that until Analysse was able to breathe correctly and her crying was under control. "It still hurts." She spoke. "It was a terrible war, Shiro. So many died."

"I can't imagine, I'm so sorry," Shiro answered, not really knowing what to say.

"It was my fault." Analysse's weakly stated.

Shiro took his head, "No it wasn't Ana..."

"I left her, I left my wingman," Analysse started crying heavier. Shiro knew that no matter what he said, he would never get through to her at this moment. So, he just listened. "I was dumb, I was so cocky. I thought she was good on her own. God, how can I be so stupid? You never leave your wingman." Shiro started rubbing her back. "Then I got hit shortly after, I ejected but almost drowned... God, I wish I did."

"No, don't go there Analysse," Shiro stated firmly.

She started crying harder, "Shiro... her last words to me... Oh God... She hates me."

"I don't believe she does," Shiro started running his fingers through her hair. Remembering it was a way to help her feel better.

Analysse tucked her legs close to her chest and continued to cry. Shiro rubbed circles on her back knowing that she will have to cry it out on her own. After a while, she came down to only sniffles.

"Do you want to lay down now?" Shiro asked.

Analysse's nodded, "But, could you please stay with me... And hold me... You always made me feel better."

"Of course," Shiro smiled and helped her under the covers. He wrapped his arm around her as she made herself comfortable against him. "I get them too." He admitted. "I have dreams of the experiments..."

"Shiro... I'm so sorry." Analysse's turned her head to look at him. "If you wake up in the middle of the night, I'll come running in and be there for you."

"Do I get to be the little spoon?"

The two broke into small laughs and giggles.

"I don't think my arms will wrap around your huge muscles," She pokes at his arm.

After a minute of relaxing, Shiro started running his fingers through her hair again, "You know... this isn't getting any easier."

"Yeah..." Analysse's answered in a whisper.

"...We're not ready."

"No." Analysse agreed. "There's so much going on."

"We'll only do this if we really need it."

"Yeah... Thank you for this Shiro, it really means a lot." Analysse said, getting tired.

"Anytime, Ana."

...

A few more weeks passed, and only a few times the two would wake up in a panic. Analysse kept her promise for running in to calm Shiro down, and on this night, it was bad.

"It's okay," She soothed, allowing Shiro to place his head on her lap as he focused on controlling his breathing. She runs her fingers through his hair in calming strokes. She hummed softly to their favorite song.

 _"Tell me something boy, aren't you tired tryin' to fill that void."_ She sang lightly. Memories of when they were younger filled her mind, causing her to feel sad for losing it all.

 _I'm falling_

 _In all the good times I find myself_

 _Longing for change_

 _And in the bad times I fear myself_

 _I'm off the deep end, watch as I dive in_

 _I'll never meet the ground_

 _Crash through the surface, where they can't hurt us_

 _We're far from the shallow now."_

Shiro looks over at her hand and gently grabbed a hold of it, running his thumb over her knuckles.

The two fell asleep together again, feeling safe in each other's arms.

...

"Keith, Keith!" Lance ran over to Keith, who was in the kitchen eating food goo.

"What's up?" He asked.

Lance had a huge smile on his face, "Analysse just walked out of Shiro's room!" Lance waited for Keith's reaction, but he only got a blank stare. "Dude, she slept in there with him!"

"Oh, snap..." Keith put down his spoon.

"Do you think they..." Lance didn't finish the rest of the sentence.

"I don't know."

"Did they ever...you know."

Keith shrugged, "I'm not sure, but I think they have before."

Lance thought for a second and then looked worried, "If they did, that could mess with them, you know psychologically."

"Well," Keith scooped more food goo in his mouth. "I wouldn't ask. That's their privacy."

"Aren't you curious?" Lance asked, getting his own food goo.

"I mean, yeah," Keith swallowed. "But if they wanted to tell us, then they will. But you shouldn't assume things. You could be wrong about the whole thing. They could have been literally just sleeping together for comfort."

"I guess you are right," Lance sat down and began eating. The other Paladins came in grabbing food.

Pidge looked over at Shiro, "What's on the agenda today?"

Shiro thought for a moment, "I don't know, I didn't really think about it." The others looked a little shocked at the fact that he hasn't thought about today's plans. Analysse walked in and took a seat, not grabbing any food. "Ana, what should we do for training today?"

"What about formations?" She suggested.

Shiro nodded, "That's something."

Allura stood up with a huge smile on her face, "Lotor and I are almost finished with the ship, today is our final day. I will not be joining you in training today."

Shiro nodded, "That is fine."

Krolia came in, dressed in her Blade suit. "Keith." Her son looks up at her perplexed. "Kolivan found a lead on a large hit on quintessence. He sent us to investigate. It's only a few vargas away."

"Okay," Keith got up and started to head out.

Analysse looked up at Krolia, "Do you need assistance?"

"No, the fewer people the better. We will fill you in once we are done." Krolia followed her son out.

Hunk looked at the ground in concern, "Are they going to be okay? What if there are a lot of Galra?"

Analysse looked at Shiro, worried too. "They will be fine," Shiro answered.

After everyone finished eating, they got up to get ready for formations training.

Shiro flinched and grabbed his head.

"Are you still having those headaches?" Analysse asked. "It's been weeks... You're not sick, are you?"

Shiro shook his head, "No..." He flinched again. Analysse rushed over thinking he was going to pass out. "I'm okay."

Analysse looked at him with concern, "You're sitting this one out."

"No, we are down a lion, it can't be two," he said flinching again, this time falling to his knees.

"Okay cowboy," Analysse stated firmly. "I'm pulling rank. You're off today, that's an order."

Shiro looked up to see if she was serious. She was dead serious and had her commanding expression on. "...Okay."

Analysse helped him get to his room and sat him on the bed. Motherly mode kicked in and she felt his head for a fever. "You don't have a fever..." She commented as she felt his cheeks. "And we've all be drinking plenty of water..."

"I don't know..." Shiro sighed. "I don't know what it is." Shiro grabbed his covers and started to get under them. "But since you are making me go to bed. I guess I'll just be a good boy and do what I'm told."

"Aw what a responsible baby!" Analysse teased and pinched his cheek. Shiro playfully pushed her arm away. With a laugh, she turned on her heel and started to walk out of the room. "I'll let the others know what's going on...Oh!" She turned around fast and gave Shiro a smile. "Since I'm the leader today, can I try to fly the Black Lion."

Shiro gave her a playful glare, "Again, he only commands to me and Keith. So that's going to be a no."

"Fine," She pouted and then gave a small giggle, "Rest up, I'll check on you in a couple of hours."

Shiro nodded, "Right. Lo- "Shiro stopped before the words accidentally came out of his mouth.

"Huh?" Analysse's turn back around.

"Nothing, see you soon!"

"Yep!"

Those cursed words almost spilled out of his mouth. The two acts exactly how they use to. He knew his emotions remain the same. He has a feeling Analysse is in the same boat... It's best not to go there.

"Gah!"

Another pang of pain filled his head causing his ears to ring. He swore he saw something this time. A hooded figured... "What...was that?"

Maybe he really did need rest.

...

Everyone laid on the couches in the lounge completely exhausted.

"Good work guys!" Analysse exclaimed, still filled with energy.

Lance moaned and scooted off the couch onto the floor. "You made us do a million flight formations and made us chase you all over the solar system."

"And we didn't even hit you once..." Pidge muttered.

Analysse looked at the team and they looked so miserable and tired. She forgot that they weren't pilots before all this. She came from a school where only the best pilots attended. She put her hands on her hips and smiled, "Take it as a good training lesson, you learned and now you will be better. We will do more of these lessons every now and then."

A loud alarm alerted the Paladins that a message was coming through. Analysse perked up, "Could that be the commander?" They all rushed over to the control room only to see Keith popped up on the screen.

"There you are!" Keith looked upset.

"What's wrong?" Analysse picked up on his panicked voice.

Keith's gaze hardened, "Where's the Princess?"

"She's with Lotor, they just finished the ship and is going a test drive, they should be coming in soon," Lance explained.

"We can't trust Lotor, he has been lying to us this whole time." Keith went on.

Analysse became serious, "Elaborate."

"I'm approaching the Castle of Lions now, I'll be there in a minute."

Keith disappeared from the screen and Analysse turns to the others, "Get your weapons ready. We may have to face Lotor." She said as she checked her own guns.

Keith, Krolia, the wolf and a mysterious woman came into the room. At one good look at the women, everyone gasped in shock. "An Altean!"

"Hello everyone!" The doors opened to reveal Lotor and Allura walking in together hand in hand.

Lance pointed his Bayard at Lotor's head. "Allura, get away from Lotor. Now." His voice was low and dangerous.

"W-what is going on?" Allura asked frightened.

Analysse readied her guns, "Take a look!" She gestured at the alive and healthy Altean. Allura looked at her with disbelief. "I thought you said you and Coran were the only Alteans left in the universe."

"We are..." Allura's voice wavered. "I-I don't understand..."

The Altean spoke for the first time, glaring at Lotor, "Lotor has been harvesting Altean quintessence for generations! He took my whole family from me!"

Allura rips her hand out from his hand, "Explain yourself!"

"I-I, Allura, I have no idea what she is talking abo- "

Allura slapped him so hard in the face he fell to the ground, "LIAR!" Tears were rolling down her face and she stared down at him. "I trusted you..." Lance was behind her, gently pulling her away from Lotor.

Lotor started laughing, "It is unfortunate that you all figured this out..." He glared at Keith and Krolia. "But I already got what I need." Lotor took something out of his pocket and pressed a button.

Analysse's heart pounded in her chest, "What the hell was that?" She snarled at him.

"You'll see..."

The castle shook as if someone started attacking it. Alarms went off and alerted that three ships were firing heavily on the Castle of Lions.

"Ah!"

Everyone was knocked to their feet, Analysse jumped back up to tackle Lotor on the ground but realized he was already gone. "Keith, Krolia and the wolf, go after Lotor now! Altean go hide! Paladin's get in your Lion's! Coran, take controls!"

"We need Voltron!" Pidge shouted.

"Get to your Lion's, I'll get Shiro!" She shouted as she ran out towards the bedrooms.

When she got into the bedroom hallway, Shiro was standing in the middle.

"Shiro?" Analysse asked she thought he would still be asleep.

Shiro turned around quickly, looking a bit panicked, "Ana, somethings wron- Gah!" Shiro collapses to his knees and holds his head.

"Shiro?" Analysse looks at Shiro as he groans in pain. "Hey..." She rubbed his back and tried to look in his eyes. "Shiro, I don't know what wrong, but I hate to say that we don't have time for this."

"Run..."

"Huh?" Analysse leans in closer to hear him better, but he stepped away from her. "Shiro look at me." She lifted his chin to make him look at her but when he opened his eyes, they were glowing yellow.

"Run Ana!" Ana gasped in shock as he pushes her away.

"Shiro?"

Shiro stopped groaning and stood there like a puppet, waiting for his strings to be moved. She moved closer to him and reached out.

"Shiro, you are starting to scare me..."

He lunged at her and tried to attack with his glowing hand, but she moved out of the way just in time. Her heart was beating so fast. Something was terribly wrong. Shiro's eyes were glowing yellow, like a Galran soldier. It looked like he was fighting something inside of himself.

Analysse still reached out to him, "Shiro, you need to calm down." She dodged another attack. "Fight this! Whatever it is!" She dodged another. She pulled her gun. "Damn it, Shiro!" She shot a warning shot as he charged at her like an animal trying to catch their prey. "I don't want to shoot you!" He charged again.

"Shiro!" She lowered her gun and kick under his legs instead. He tripped but he recovered by front flipping back onto his feet.

Analysse ran, she was not going to shoot her best friend. She had to figure out another way. She knew the damage his hand can cause. It can easily cut her up. Suddenly, Shiro caught up with her and tackled her on the ground. They rolled on the ground until Shiro was above Analysse. He activated his hand and tried to cut her, but she kicked him and got him off her. She wrapped her legs around him and got on top of him, holding down his arms so he wouldn't attack. "Shiro, please!" She shouted and held on him tight. "I know you're in there... Come back to me!"

Shiro growled and got out of Analysse grip. Before Analysse could react, Shiro ran his hand across her stomach.

Analysse screamed in agony and jumped off him. She stumbled onto her back as she clutched at her stomach. Blood poured out of her wound and she was already feeling light headed. She kept the pressure on her wound to keep it from bleeding out, but it was already so deep.

Shiro was struggling, he was grabbing his head again and groaning.

"No... no... no..." Analysse heard him mumble. She took that as an opportunity to escape. She tried to stand but every movement was extremely painful.

"Gah," She bit her lip to prevent herself from completely crying out. Tears sting her eyes as she fought through. Her vision started getting hazy. But she couldn't give up.

Then, Shiro rushed at her and tackled her back on the ground. She let out a scream but was too weak to fight back. She looked into Shiro's yellow eyes. He raised his glowing hand again. She didn't want that to be the last thing she saw, so she closed her eyes. "Shiro..."

"Shiro!" Suddenly Shiro was thrown off her. "Oh my gosh, Analysse..." It was Keith.

Analysse blacked out, but a few times she regained consciousness. She looked over and saw Keith and Shiro fighting. Shiro's hand looked more like a sword now. Keith was attacking him with his Marmara blade. "Shiro, I know you're in there! You made a promise once! You promised you would never give up on me. I know you made the same promise with Analysse!"

"Keith..." Analysse muttered and tried to get up but blacked out again.

...

"You loved her, Shiro! I know you still do! I remember you told me you wanted to marry her! Look at what you have done to her!"

...

Everything was blurry but Analysse could see Shiro standing above Keith, sword clashed against his. Keith was grunting and struggling against Shiro's strength but was trying to say something. "Shiro, please... You're my brother... I love you."

Her eyes closed again, but the last thing she heard was Keith screaming.

* * *

 **College is wack guys.**


	6. Chapter 6

_Shiro and Analysse lied together on Analysse's bed with the tv on low. Everyone in the house was asleep, except for the two teens._

 _"I'm so happy you came home with me for winter break." Analysse giggled between kisses._

 _"Me too." Shiro smiled. The two continued to make out until they needed a breath of air. "How mad would your dad be if he found us like this?"_

 _Thinking about what they have been doing for the past two hours, Analysse laughed, "He would definitely kill you, and then me, and then you again."_

 _"Man, and I was starting to think your dad likes me..." Shiro playfully mopped._

 _Analysse gently punched his arm, "Are you kidding me he loves you. And don't get me started on the twins. They have been secretly texting me about you. Nathan is going on about how cool you are, and Natalia is telling me that's she is super jealous of me." The two laugh and start watching the tv._

 _After about 20 minutes of the show they were watching, Analysse turns to look at Shiro, "Hey."_

 _Shiro, who was starting to fall asleep, turns to look at her, "Hi," he smiles sleepily._

 _Analysse sits up and props her head on her hand, "What did I do to deserve you,"_

 _"What do you mean?" He sits up too._

 _Analysse gently caresses his face, "I can see this go on a long time...forever..." She looked him in the eyes and stared into them intently._

 _Shiro took her hand and squeezed it three times, "I can see us go on forever."_

 _The two smiled and leaned in for another passionate kiss._

...

"Analysse!"

Analysse opened her eyes and saw Keith and Krolia standing over her. "Thank God you are alright." Keith stood closest to her and smiled with tears in his eyes. He leaned forward and hugged her.

She rubbed his head as she hugged him back, "Thank you for saving me." She smiled at him as he pulled back. "Wait a minute," she frowned and traced her thumb on the scar that was on his cheek. "What's this?"

"This?" He touches his scar, "Oh uh, it's my Galra mark. Galran get them during noble fights but, I didn't feel noble."

"D-did you kill..."

"No." Keith cut her off. "I wouldn't be able to, I wouldn't be able to live with myself..." The two fell silent for a minute. "Shiro is awake and back to normal." Analysse didn't say anything. She ran her hand over her bandages. She flinches in pain as she started to wake up a bit more. "You're still weak, lay back down," Keith said, and he helped her lay back on her pillow. "Most of the power is out... we only got gravity and oxygen running. That's why we can't get you into a healing pod."

"Where's Shiro?" Analysse changed the topic.

Keith and Krolia glanced at each other. "Shiro, he's..."

"Shiro wanted to be placed in solitary confinement." Analysse didn't react, but they knew that broke her heart.

"He feels terrible about what he did. He hates himself for hurting you." Tears threaten to escape Analysse's eyes. "He wants to stay in there until we can figure out what's going on, he doesn't want to lose control again and attack us."

Silence fell upon them again. "Where's Lotor?" Analysse asked.

Krolia shook her head, "He is keeping a low profile, we injured him and his generals. The Blades and the Rebels and on a manhunt."

"Good." Analysse tried to sit up, "It's about time we start too..." She winces in pain as she sits up.

"No Analysse!" Krolia and Keith try to sit her back down.

"Let me go, I can fly!"

"Analysse stop," Keith raised his voice. "You're done."

Analysse glared, "Don't talk to me like that, Keith." She used her commanding voice.

"No," Keith shook his head. "You know I'm right. You know it's stupid for you to go out there. Stop being stubborn for once and acknowledge that you are in no condition in helping us!"

Analysse sighed and let it go, "Fine."

"I'm going to be piloting the Black Lion," Keith said walking towards the door. "Rest up, Analysse."

"Sure."

With the sound of the door sliding shut, Analysse was left alone with her thoughts. She let out a frustrated yell and punched the wall next to her. "I hate being useless..." She muttered, holding her now thumping hand. "I hate feeling so weak..." She slowly drifted off to sleep.

...

Days went by and Analysse barely talked to anyone. She just didn't feel like it. The others were getting worried but assumed that this was a way Analysse dealt with hard situations. She has been injured before in the war, and they know her history of PTSD, however, no one could make her feel better. The only person was Shiro.

It was Keith's turn to check on her, and he was the most concerned. He knew she hasn't been eating for the past couple of days.

"I'm not hungry," She would replay.

Keith has a new strategy. To make Analysse feel a little better, he is going to make the Cosmic Wolf stay with her for a while. He knows how much she loves dogs and knows that she had one back home.

"Analysse?" He called through the door.

"Come in."

He walked into the room and noticed that again, food from the night before was still sitting on the table in her room. The Cosmic Wolf whimpered, nudging her owner's hand to comfort him.

"How are you feeling?" Keith asked, picking up the food.

"Alright."

"I see you still haven't eaten."

"..."

Keith signed, "I want you to leave Fenrir with you."

Analysse blinked and looked at Keith funny, "Fenrir? Who is that? Is that the new Altean? I thought her name was Romelle?"

Keith laughed, he forgets to tell her a small detail, "No, it's the wolf, I finally gave her a name. Fenrir." He rubbed his beloved pup's head. She grew quite a lot since he rescued her. She is at least at an earth gray wolf size now. Krolia says she'll get a lot bigger.

"Oh, the pup is here!" Analysse, realizing that the wolf was in the room, called her over and start petting her. Fenrir wagged her tail and used everything in her power not to jump on her. She knows she's not supposed to jump.

Keith narrowed his eyes, how did she not see the wolf, right in front of her? "How much sleep have you gotten." No answer. "Did you sleep at all?"

"Nightmares," was her response. "And memories." She stopped petting Fenrir and let her arm drop. The wolf whimpered.

"Analysse, I'm worried, how can we help you?" Keith presses.

Analysse shook her head, "I'm fine." He knew she was lying.

The wolf couldn't take it anymore, she jumped up, careful not to hurt her, and licked her face. Before Keith could yell at his pup, he heard a laugh.

"Fenrir, girl, stop your breath smells like death!"

He hasn't heard her laugh in a long time. He smiled, maybe this was a good plan after all. If he could just get her to eat... "Fenrir," the wolf turned her head over to him with her ears down, thinking she was in trouble. "Look after Analysse for a while okay?" She rolled her tongue out and wagged her tail in response, going back to licking Analysse in the face.

"Okay, girl, you win, hop up but don't step on my stomach please..." Fenrir jumped over her and laid down on the side of the wall.

"How're the bandages?" Keith asked before he left. She lifted her shirt, revealing blood-stained bandages. They need to be changed. "I'll have Allura help you change the bandages and help you take a bath later tonight."

Analysse snorted, "What, you saying I smell?"

Keith hesitated, "You could probably use one."

Analysse gave a soft laugh, "Whatever you say Mr. Black Paladin."

...

The next day, Romelle and Allura helped Analysse walk up and down the hallway, but her wound was still bad. Even though the power is back on and the healing pods are up, it was dangerous to force a human to go into a comatose state. Altean's were a different story.

She wanted to spend some time with the other Paladins now. Her, Pidge and Lance all slept in Analysse's room one night, watching Marvel movies. Analysse didn't understand how they were able to watch movies in space, but Pidge has her thing. Being a big fan of the early 2000 Marvel movies, they watched almost all the Iron Man and Thor movies. Pidge and Lance purposely skipped the _Captain America_ movies due to Bucky, being _way_ to close to home.

When Keith was about to head to bed, he peaked in Analysse's room to see if Fenrir was in there. Sure enough, Fenrir was curled on her side while Analysse had her arm on her like she had fallen asleep petting her. He looked over at the table and noticed that Analysse finally ate something. Hunk had given her some meat and vegetables. All the vegetables were gone, and half of the meat was eaten. He smiled to himself and felt extremely relieved that Analysse was slowly getting back to her normal self.

If only Shiro could do the same.

...

Pidge carefully pushed the cart full of her new inventions towards the castle's dungeon. There, Shiro is behind clear doors, with no way getting out. They made it very comfortable for him, with access to a warm bed, a shower, food goo, books, and Pidge's video games, but all Shiro did was sit in his chair by the corner of the cell, hating himself for everything he did. None of it was his fault. But that won't make him stop thinking bad of himself.

"Hey Shiro," She came in with a smile.

Shiro gave her a small smile, "Hey Katie." Pidge started setting her things up in the cell, making Shiro frown. "You shouldn't be in here alone with me, I don't know if I'll go out of control again."

"It will be okay," Pidge explained. "Besides, if anything did happen, remember that device we put on your wrist?" She points to the small green-like watch that was locked on Shiro's wrist. "If you do go out of control, all I got to do is say the magic word and there will be an electric shock that goes through your whole body and puts you down to your knees.

Shiro lifted his eyebrows, "Oh, right."

Pidge glanced at Shiro, he looked sick, he was pale and getting skinny. He hasn't shaved at all in the past couple days. "You haven't been eating."

Shiro was hesitant, "Only a little bit." He wanted to change the subject, "How is Analysse?"

"Better," Pidge answered, playing with her machine. "I know she is wanting to see you."

"I want to see her too, but..."

Pidge sighed, "Let's get this bug out of your head, okay? So, my scans from a couple of days ago show that you have this... chip, in the part of your brain that controls your motor and behavior. I believe, when Haggar was doing her experiments, she planted this chip, without cutting her way into your head. So, what I'm thinking, we can get it out, without going in and making surgical incisions." Shiro looked doubtful. "I know it sounds crazy, but with my new technology, I can get it out."

"I don't understand, that doesn't make much sense."

Pidge sighed again, "I don't expect you too, this is top-notch technology no human has ever seen or experienced. I had to make something better to be able to get this out."

Shiro nodded, "So it's still surgery, but you aren't technically cutting open my head to do it."

"Right, so I'll be working with a hologram of your brain to do this. There will be a laser that destroys the chip and there will be no trace of it." Pidge explained further. "Just know..." she started to fidget, "It's going to be extremely dangerous, and an extremely long process. I will need to put you to sleep, to make sure there are no distractions. If Haggar decides to take control of you in the middle of surgery, that's it." Pidge gulped and tried to hide her tears, "If I mess up, I can permanently damage your brain, and you-... I can't let anything happen to you."

Shiro nodded, "I trust you." He looked into her watery eyes. "I know you can do this, Pidge."

Pidge rubs her eyes, "Okay, I need to talk to everyone about this, and I need them to be waiting outside the cell...We can do this, and once you are back to normal, we can finally defeat Lotor and Haggar... And then we can go home."

Home. It didn't seem like a possible idea. But maybe, it will be soon. Shiro smiled wide, "Okay, I'm with you on this."

...

"What!?" Analysse exclaimed. "Pidge, you're not a doctor!"

Everyone seemed to be on board with Shiro's surgery, except Analysse.

"You can mess up!" Analysse was in a panic. "Neurosurgery is one of the most dangerous surgeries! You do know that strokes are very common right? If he has a bad one, then he- "Analysse started to choke up and stopped herself from getting too emotional. Romelle, who was helping her stand, rubbed her back. She took a deep breath and looked Pidge in the eyes, "You are the most qualified person to do this..." She closed her eyes and sighed, "Okay."

It was 20 minutes before Shiro was going into surgery, right now, Allura is putting Shiro to sleep. Everyone is waiting outside the cell, but Analysse and Pidge weren't there yet. Analysse was looking for Pidge, and she had a good idea of where she would be...

Pidge spit for the fifth time into the bathroom sink. She was so nervous; she vomited a lot. Analysse walked in, looking at the 15-year-old with sympathy. "I'm so sorry if I got onto you back there, it's just..."

"I know." Pidge stopped her, taking a swig of water. "I know..."

"Bring him back to us... Bring him back to me."

Pidge nodded in understanding, "He is so sorry, Analysse."

"I know, I forgive him..."

"You tell him that when he wakes up, he needs to hear it."

...

It has been 30 minutes since Pidge started the surgery. It looked complicated, but everyone knows that she knew what she was doing.

Everyone was nervously watching, and when Analysse gets nervous, she has a bad habit at chewing at her fingernails until they bleed. Keith, who is sitting next to Analysse, spots her chewing at her fingernails and they were getting very red.

"Stop," he moved her hands from her face so she could stop. She sighs and starts bouncing her leg instead. Fenrir, who was sitting next to Keith moved over to Analysse so she could calmly pet her. This seemed to work as Analysse rubbed circles on her ears.

Three hours went by without any interruptions, it was quiet. No one wanted to talk to anyone.

"I'm halfway done," Pidge announced.

Two more hours went by and Analysse started to get anxious again but tried to keep her nails away from her mouth. Suddenly, everyone heard movement in the cell. Everyone looks up to see a frozen Pidge.

Keith stands up, "Pidge?"

Shiro started to move.

"Is the anesthesia wearing off?" Lance asked.

Pidge looks up at them, "N-no, his brain scans are all over the place... He-he's shouldn't be able to move. Haggar is trying to take control!"

Everyone was up and rushed over to the room. Pidge was panicking, this could mess things up. The boys rushed over to hold him down on the table. His movements started to become more violent now.

"Haggar!" Allura exclaimed, knowing that the witch could hear her. "We are going to find you, and then that will be it for you!"

"Shiro..." Analysse was afraid. She was afraid for Shiro. He needed to get in control. She put a hand on his chest, "Shiro."

"Analysse get away from him, she knows your his weakness!" Hunk shouted.

She didn't listen, "Shiro," she calmly talked to him. She knew he could hear her. "Fight this, I know you can. You are strong in many ways. This is your mind, you have control." His movements began to become calmer. His hand moved up to his chest and rested on top of her hand. She took a hold of it and held on tight. "You got this, Shiro."

Shiro went numb, he had control of his mind again. Analysse looked up at Pidge, "Finish it."

30 minutes later, Pidge successfully removed the chip.

Everyone grabbed her in a huge hug, "You did it, Pidge!"

"Guys, let me go, I need to go puke."

Analysse goes back to Shiro and holds his hand again.

"It will take a while for him to wake up, you should get some rest Analysse, you are still injured," Allura commented.

Analysse stood up, "I'll be in the control room," That wasn't really for everyone to know, just Shiro.

...

Analysse was in the control room, sitting on the window still looking out at the stars. She was thinking about everything life has thrown at her, how she was meant to be in this moment right now. The universe works in mysterious ways, but it's right now that means the most. The door swings open, and Shiro is standing in the doorway, not sure if he should approach Analysse.

The two stare at each other for a bit. "Ana," Shiro finally speaks. "I-I'm..." Analysse was already moving, she wrapped her arms around him and held him tight. "I'm so sorry." She felt tears wet the collar of her nightshirt.

She soothes him and rubs his back, "It wasn't your fault. I forgive you."

"I heard you when she took over again." Shiro took her hands and smiled at her, "You helped me get back." Shiro pushed hair behind Analysse's ear and kept his hand on her cheek. "You are everything to me."

 **The universe works in mysterious ways.**

"I love you." Analysse admits and leans into his touch, "I didn't stop."

"I always loved you," Shiro lifted her head to look into her eyes. "And I will always love you for the rest of my life."

"I love you to the 'moon and more'," she teased, quoting the title of her favorite book.

"I love you to the end of the universe and more." That was his twist, he always said it.

Shiro leaned in and their lips met. It was just a simple kiss, but for them, it felt like sparks were flying. The feeling was everything they remembered.

Shiro grabbed her hand and twirled her around. "What are you doing?" Analysse laughed.

Shiro carefully placed his hand on her waist, "You said you wished that we danced more often."

Analysse rolls her eyes, "Yeah but I mean not in my nightclothes."

"You're still beautiful."

"There's no music."

Suddenly the control room erupted with music. The song _Lover_ started playing _._ Analysse and Shiro looked at each other and started laughing.

"You rugrats!" Analysse shouted.

" _We love you!_ " Lance's voice came through.

" _You'll thank us later!_ " Keith exclaimed.

 _"Just remember, you two have rooms."_ Pidge's voice stated. _"So, don't go crazy in there."_

Shiro and Analysse laughed. "So, you better stop watching now then," Analysse teased.

 _"Ew,"_ Hunk responded and that was the last they heard of their fellow earthlings.

Analysse laughed and leaned into Shiro. She was so happy to be here with him. They danced around the room, laughing every time Analysse would step on Shiro's feet.

 _Can I go where you go?_

 _Can we always be this close forever and ever?_

 _And ah, take me out and take me home (forever and ever)_

 _You're my, my, my, my lover_

 **The now is what means the most**.

…

Lyrics by Taylor Swift's _Lover_.


End file.
